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posted by on Thursday April 13 2017, @04:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the balrog-scales dept.

Rock fragments from mud volcanoes below the sea floor contain complex organic matter, suggesting the existence of microbes as far as 10 km below the sea floor:

An interdisciplinary team of scientists led by scientists from Utrecht University with participation from University of Gothenburg have found new clues about how deep life may extend into the Earth's interior near the deepest place on our planet – the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they examine complex organic molecules that have been trapped within rock fragments brought to the seafloor by massive mud volcanoes.

[...] In their hunt for tell-tale signs of life, the scientists have analysed rock fragments that have been carried by the mud volcanoes from as deep as 20 km within the Earth. Using state-of-the-art analytical techniques they found organic matter encapsulated within the clasts. [...] Although Dr. Plümper and his colleagues cannot pinpoint the exact origin of the organic matter, chemical analysis of the constituents hint at microbial life deep within or below the mud volcano. This is consistent with calculations conducted by the authors using the currently known temperature limit for life, 122 °C, and the temperatures expected under the mud volcanoes, which suggest that life could exist as deep as 10,000 meters below seafloor. This is considerably deeper than other serpentinizing regions such as mid-ocean ridges and could have provided a sheltered habitat for life helping it to survive the more violent phases of Earth's early history.

List of largest lakes and seas in the Solar System and hydrothermal vents.

Subduction zone forearc serpentinites as incubators for deep microbial life (open, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1612147114) (DX)


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  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:55PM (1 child)

    by kaszz (4211) on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:55PM (#493558) Journal

    Good to know in case a Gamma-ray burst [wikipedia.org] strikes.

    Otoh, 100 meter of sea water is perhaps enough?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @08:41PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @08:41PM (#493619)

    No, that's why we're adding 10-100m more in the the next century. It's gonna be the greatest cosmic ray wall, you're gonna be so proud.