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Ancient Organisms Found Deep in the Ocean Floor:
By now, most of us know that we live on a planet utterly dominated by microbes. We have read all about the microbes that exist in a handful of dirt; we have read all about bacteria living in the atmosphere and in the clouds; we’ve even read about microbes that survive in the cold, hostile environments of space! And even our very own (seemingly) familiar bodies are entire microbial worlds in their own right (sorry germaphobes or people with Mysophobia), where bacteria outnumber our own cells 10 to 1.
And now researchers have made another startling discovery: they found microbes even more ancient than those dwelling in the cold, deep recesses of the bottom shelf of my bachelor pad fridge!
Okay, okay, I'll be more specific. They report having found bacteria, fungi, and viruses living a mile and a half (almost 2.5 km) beneath the ocean floor. Such specimens, they report, appear to be millions of years old and reproduce only every 10,000 years! Amazing.
This new discovery was made by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (or IODP for short). The IODP is an international effort with participants from 22 countries. Its goal is to study the history of the ocean basins, which it does by drilling (from the scientific drill ship JOIDES) deep into the ocean floor and retrieving samples of what is found.
Researchers with IODP have presented these truly remarkable findings to the Goldschmidt conference - a conference that attracts roughly 4000 geochemists a year. These findings pose several interesting questions.
Somehow, these microorganisms are able to find an energy source so far below ground level, which has researchers stumped. This is also in conjunction with their metabolism being extremely slow - likely accounting for their longevity.
Another conundrum presented here is reproduction. In addition to being old, the specimens found in the soil are also few and far between, at least when compared to microorganisms found in soil on the surface of the planet.
The team reports that they found just 10,000 bacteria specimens in a teaspoon-sized sample of dirt retrieved from deep below the ocean floor. That is in stark contrast and pales in comparison with the billions or even trillions of bacteria normally found when looking at soil found on land. The same is roughly true with the viruses and fungi they found.
Some of the researchers on the team are not even sure they are willing to classify the organisms as live creatures - suggesting they exist in a sort of zombie-like state. All of the specimens found exist in sediment that is approximately 100 million years old, which suggests that they too may be nearly the same age. Ancient indeed.
The team plans to dig deeper to see if even older organisms can be found. These findings seriously make us marvel at the tenacity of life (like where life could possibly exist on other planets), and make scientists reconsider how vital their role truly is on our planet's carbon life cycle.
-Tyson
Further reading:
Microbes found deep in the ocean floor by Phys.org- http://m.phys.org/news/2013-08-soil-bene...teria.html
Microbes in the stratosphere by Sciencedaily- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...094642.htm
Previous FQTQ article on microbes in a handful of dirt-
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...=3&theater
Previous FQTQ article on what makes us human- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...=3&theater
Previous FQTQ article on tardigrades in space: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...=3&theater
Goldschmidt conference 2013- http://goldschmidt.info/2013/
Link for the image (actual microbes from the original post are not depicted here)- http://garvandwane.com/evolution/panspermia.html
Ancient Organisms Found Deep in the Ocean Floor:
By now, most of us know that we live on a planet utterly dominated by microbes. We have read all about the microbes that exist in a handful of dirt; we have read all about bacteria living in the atmosphere and in the clouds; we’ve even read about microbes that survive in the cold, hostile environments of space! And even our very own (seemingly) familiar bodies are entire microbial worlds in their own right (sorry germaphobes or people with Mysophobia), where bacteria outnumber our own cells 10 to 1.
And now researchers have made another startling discovery: they found microbes even more ancient than those dwelling in the cold, deep recesses of the bottom shelf of my bachelor pad fridge!
Okay, okay, I'll be more specific. They report having found bacteria, fungi, and viruses living a mile and a half (almost 2.5 km) beneath the ocean floor. Such specimens, they report, appear to be millions of years old and reproduce only every 10,000 years! Amazing.
This new discovery was made by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (or IODP for short). The IODP is an international effort with participants from 22 countries. Its goal is to study the history of the ocean basins, which it does by drilling (from the scientific drill ship JOIDES) deep into the ocean floor and retrieving samples of what is found.
Researchers with IODP have presented these truly remarkable findings to the Goldschmidt conference - a conference that attracts roughly 4000 geochemists a year. These findings pose several interesting questions.
Somehow, these microorganisms are able to find an energy source so far below ground level, which has researchers stumped. This is also in conjunction with their metabolism being extremely slow - likely accounting for their longevity.
Another conundrum presented here is reproduction. In addition to being old, the specimens found in the soil are also few and far between, at least when compared to microorganisms found in soil on the surface of the planet.
The team reports that they found just 10,000 bacteria specimens in a teaspoon-sized sample of dirt retrieved from deep below the ocean floor. That is in stark contrast and pales in comparison with the billions or even trillions of bacteria normally found when looking at soil found on land. The same is roughly true with the viruses and fungi they found.
Some of the researchers on the team are not even sure they are willing to classify the organisms as live creatures - suggesting they exist in a sort of zombie-like state. All of the specimens found exist in sediment that is approximately 100 million years old, which suggests that they too may be nearly the same age. Ancient indeed.
The team plans to dig deeper to see if even older organisms can be found. These findings seriously make us marvel at the tenacity of life (like where life could possibly exist on other planets), and make scientists reconsider how vital their role truly is on our planet's carbon life cycle.
-Tyson
Further reading:
Microbes found deep in the ocean floor by Phys.org- http://m.phys.org/news/2013-08-soil-bene...teria.html
Microbes in the stratosphere by Sciencedaily- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...094642.htm
Previous FQTQ article on microbes in a handful of dirt-
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...=3&theater
Previous FQTQ article on what makes us human- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...=3&theater
Previous FQTQ article on tardigrades in space: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...=3&theater
Goldschmidt conference 2013- http://goldschmidt.info/2013/
Link for the image (actual microbes from the original post are not depicted here)- http://garvandwane.com/evolution/panspermia.html
"The Universe is run by the complex interweaving of three elements: energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest." G'Kar-B5
