News
Deepest-Ever Marine Drill Yields Life
By Angela Messina, December 16, 2014 @ 06:04 AM (EST)
Source: BBC Science and Environment
Source: BBC Science and Environment
In 2012, a team of scientists sent a drill 3,000 feet below the surface of Japan’s waters and drilled a record-breaking 8,024 feet into the rock of the seafloor. Analysis of samples from this drill has revealed microbes that survive down there despite the lack of light and oxygen and the limited amounts of nutrients and water.
The microbes survive on methyl compounds found in the coal bed in that region. They have a very slow metabolism and expend as little energy as possible. Scientists are now trying to determine if there are more than one kind of microbe living in the coal bed—and how they got there in the first place.
Read more here.
RELATED ARTICLES
LATEST EQUIPMENT
 |  |  |  |  |
Be the first to add a comment to this article.
You must be logged in to comment.
Support Our Sponsors
Newsletter
Travel with us
AntarcticaFeatured Photographer
Chris Weaver
Expert Photographer
As a certified scuba diver since 1978, Chris Weaver has made hundreds of dives with his childhood friend Michael Salvarezza, taking photographs of their experiences in remote locations ranging from the temperate waters of Cocos...
Follow Us
Sponsors
