We already know that planet Earth is full of environments inhabited by diverse forms of life. However, recently, a group of scientists discovered that beneath the Earth’s surface there are billions of living microorganisms in development.
Follow the reading and discover a secret and almost unknown world in the underground part of the Earth.
Scientists investigate life inside the Earth
Recently, the American Geophysical Union meeting took place, an event during which researchers presented their discoveries to each other.
On that occasion, a research group presented their findings regarding the Earth’s subsoil. They claim that around 70% of all microbes on the planet live in this area.
Furthermore, these microbes compose approximately 15 to 23 billion tons of carbon. That’s hundreds of times more mass than all the humans on the surface combined.
The underground ecosystem dominated by bacteria and archaea has been named the “underground Galapagos”. The discovery and studies are still very recent.
Regarding these studies, Karen Lloyd, author of the study and associate professor of Microbiology at the University of Tennessee, USA, comments:
“Ten years ago, we had only shown a few locations – the kinds of places where we expected to find life. Now, thanks to ultra-deep sampling, we know we can find it almost anywhere.”
To arrive at the current results, the team combined dozens of previous studies that examined samples from drillings on the seafloor and continents.
Something that left scientists very surprised was the deep subsurface biosphere, which represents almost twice the volume of all the oceans on Earth.
Even with all the harsh conditions, this variety of life is detectable and will likely thrive. Furthermore, this new ecosystem could answer many questions about the limits of life on Earth and perhaps even on other planets.
Rick Colwell, a microbial ecologist at Oregon State University, comments on this ecosystem:
“Our studies of deep biosphere microbes have yielded much new knowledge, but also a much greater insight and appreciation of how much we still have to learn about life underground.”
In short, everything about this secret underground world is still a mystery and, as studies continue, much will probably still be revealed.
Support our work ❤️
If you enjoyed this article, consider leaving a tip to help us keep publishing great content.
