PARIS: Scientists said Sunday they had discovered an unexpectedly large and active community of single-cell organisms living on the Pacific sea floor at the deepest site on Earth. The “surprisingly active” community of microbes exists about 11 km below sea level in the Mariana Trench, one of the world’s most inaccessible places, some 200 miles southwest of the Pacific island of Guam.
Surprisingly, researchers found the trench housed almost 10 times more bacteria than a nearby six-kilometer deep site, living on organic waste from dead sea animals, algae and other microbes that settle on the ocean floor. Many scientists had thought that the deeper the floor below sea level, the more deprived it would be of food — which has to float all the way from the oxygen-rich surface to the bottom of the ocean.
In fact, the team found the Mariana Trench was unexpectedly rich in organic matter. Mariana Trench made headlines a year ago when Hollywood director James Cameron made history’s first solo trip by submarine to the bottom. He described a “desolate” and “alien” environment.
Scientists find active community at Earth’s deepest spot
