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IMAGE: Trembath-Reichert running the winch for the CTD water sampler, which was used to bring fluids up to the ship from the bottom of the ocean. view more
Credit: Ben Tully
The subseafloor constitutes one of the largest and most understudied ecosystems on Earth. While it is known that life survives deep down in the fluids, rocks, and sediments that make up the seafloor, scientists know very little about the conditions and energy needed to sustain that life.
An interdisciplinary research team, led from ASU and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), sought to learn more about this ecosystem and the microbes that exist in the subseafloor. The results of their findings were recently published in
In the deep sea, subsurface microbes are plentiful and hungry
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Researcher Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert is pictured operating the winch for the CTD water sampler, which was used to pump fluids back up to the research vessel from the Atlantic seafloor.
Photo by Ben Tully
April 28 (UPI) Boreholes drilled deep into the floor of the Atlantic are offering scientists new insights into the microbial communities found thousands of feet beneath the surface of the ocean.
Scientists knew there were microbes living beneath the ocean floor, but until now, little was known about their energy requirements.
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For the study the results of which were published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances scientists sent a smorgasbord of snacking options down boreholes drilled into North Pond, a section of the western flank of the mid-Atlantic Ridge.