A Hidden World of Life Has Been Found 31,000 Feet Beneath the Ocean
Scientists discover thriving ecosystems 31,000 feet deep, challenging our understanding of extreme biology and Earth systems.
The Discovery Happened in the Hadal Zone
Scientists Went Down in a Manned Submersible
The Depth Reached More Than 31,000 Feet
Life There Does Not Need Sunlight
The Ecosystem Stretches for Miles
Thousands of Microorganisms Were Identified
Larger Creatures Were Living There Too
The Trenches May Affect Carbon Cycling
Similar Worlds May Exist Elsewhere
The Discovery Changes How We Think About Life
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The deepest parts of the ocean can seem almost impossible to imagine. There is no sunlight, the pressure is crushing, the water is cold, and the landscape belongs to a region most humans will never see directly. Yet scientists have now found that even there, life is not merely surviving. It may be flourishing in ways that challenge what we thought we knew about the limits of biology.
Using the human-occupied submersible Fendouzhe, researchers explored the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench and the western Aleutian Trench in the northwest Pacific. At depths reaching around 31,000 feet, they discovered extensive chemosynthesis-based communities, identified 7,564 species of prokaryotic microorganisms, and found that most of them had never been seen before. The study was published in Nature and suggests that the deepest ocean may be far more alive than expected.