| On the sea floor, over 10,000 feet below us, lies a | | | | exists a thriving ecosystem in the deep sea floor, with |
| world very different from ours. The sheer depth of the | | | | an estimated 90 million tons of biomass. The |
| sea floor ensures that few can unravel the mysteries | | | | researchers believe that roughly 200 million cubic |
| it contains, as even catching a glimpse is no simple | | | | kilometers of mud just below the sea floor is inhabited |
| task! Nevertheless, man's desire to discover and | | | | by microorganisms. |
| explore our world is insatiable, and we have developed | | | | In order to reach this conclusion, the scientists |
| various ways to study and understand the world | | | | researched various samples of silt collected from |
| beneath us. | | | | hundreds of meters below the Atlantic and Pacific sea |
| A quick peek into the depths of the sea reveals | | | | floor. The samples came from the research |
| various tidbits of history here and there, as shown by | | | | expeditions by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. |
| the recent photographs released by the Irish National | | | | Following this groundbreaking discovery, the |
| Seabed Survey, where scientists have been scanning | | | | researchers, Drs. Inagaki and Morono, have clearly |
| under the waves since 1996. Most of the photographs | | | | outlined their vision for the future. With the strong |
| are from deep water areas where the sonar-equipped | | | | presence of Archaea in the deep ecosystem, they |
| ships can easily sail. The pictures show a 20 kilometer | | | | have stated that they "intend to study their lifestyle |
| trench which is up to 30 meters deep, a possible | | | | and metabolism, strategy for long-term survival, and |
| indication of a geological fault. | | | | ecological roles." |
| There were also broad troughs carved into the sea | | | | They will use CHIKYU, the world's only riser-equipped |
| floor during or soon after the last ice age, over 10,000 | | | | research vessel and drilling platform. By presenting and |
| years ago. The sea floor sonar images also showed | | | | discussing their findings, it is hoped that scientists will be |
| the large number of sunken German U-boats. | | | | able to gain a more complete, reliable and accurate |
| Even farther down, in the depths of the Pacific's | | | | picture of the deep sea floor. |
| Marianna Trench, over 36,000 feet below sea level, | | | | These microbes are literally dead by our normal |
| lives a thriving ecosystem never seen before by the | | | | standards, barely using any energy at all. Unlike |
| likes of man. Scientists have long thought that in the | | | | bacteria, which reproduce rapidly, Archaea double |
| depths of the ocean, there can be no life due to the | | | | themselves less than once a century. |
| extreme conditions. The immense pressure, the lack of | | | | Scientists believe that if there are any life on the other |
| oxygen, the complete darkness and low temperatures | | | | planets in our solar system, it will be like these |
| of the sea bed have always been thought to lead | | | | Archaea, living at an extremely slow pace of life due |
| invariably to a sea floor ecosystem dominated by | | | | to the similar conditions. Hypothetically, similar organisms |
| bacteria. | | | | may be living in the vents beneath the ice of Europa, |
| However, recent studies have demonstrated that | | | | or in the frozen water of Mars, so developing an |
| even as bacteria dominate the upper ten centimeters | | | | understanding the Archaea is vital. Additionally, these |
| of the sea floor, simple organisms known as Archaea | | | | microbes are likely to survive major Earth impacts by |
| take over below this level, comprising of up to 87 | | | | asteroids or a nuclear fallout, meaning that the this |
| percent of the deep sea biosphere. Contrary to | | | | deep sea region is a likely refuge during extinction |
| popular belief, despite the extreme conditions, there | | | | events. |