Scientists Identify Vast Underground Ecosystem Containing Billions of Micro-organisms (theguardian.com)

The Earth is far more alive than previously thought, according to "deep life" studies that reveal a rich ecosystem beneath our feet that is almost twice the size of that found in all the world's oceans. From a report: Despite extreme heat, no light, minuscule nutrition and intense pressure, scientists estimate this subterranean biosphere is teeming with between 15bn and 23bn tonnes of micro-organisms, hundreds of times the combined weight of every human on the planet. Researchers at the Deep Carbon Observatory say the diversity of underworld species bears comparison to the Amazon or the Galapagos Islands, but unlike those places the environment is still largely pristine because people have yet to probe most of the subsurface.

"It's like finding a whole new reservoir of life on Earth," said Karen Lloyd, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. "We are discovering new types of life all the time. So much of life is within the Earth rather than on top of it." The team combines 1,200 scientists from 52 countries in disciplines ranging from geology and microbiology to chemistry and physics. A year before the conclusion of their 10-year study, they will present an amalgamation of findings to date before the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting opens this week.

Comments

Wow, that's a huge find alright.

[Anonymous Coward]

The question now is how was this overlooked for so long? This really gives credence to the possibility of life under the surface on Mars or other planetary bodies, panspermia, all of that. Wow. Big, big big.

Re:Wow, that's a huge find alright.

[ShanghaiBill]

The question now is how was this overlooked for so long?

It wasn't. This has been well known for decades. This new research didn't "discover" subterranean life, they mostly just quantified and categorized it.

For the last time

[rsilvergun]

get out of my sock draw. If this keeps up I'm going to wash the damn things.

Billions of micro-organisms

[ebcdic]

There are billions of micro-organisms in a pot of yogurt. Did you mean billions of species, or billions of tons?

Mars

[t0qer]

Would be neat if we found the same thing on Mars.

Re:Mars

[quenda]

Would be neat if we found the same thing on Mars.

And not entirely surprising if they turn out to be related.
Large impacts such as the dino-killer asteroid would have sent large many tonnes of life-bearing rock all over the solar system, including to Europa.

If we do find such life deep under Mars, one question will be which came first.

Is this Gold's "Deep Hot Biosphere" theory?

[cybersquid]

This sounds a lot like Thomas Gold's Deep Hot Biosphere theory.

Re:Is this Gold's "Deep Hot Biosphere" theory?

[Comrade Ogilvy]

We have a big thick coal band from the Carboniferous period. We have oil wells found where ancient shallow seas did once reside.

So while I would not conclude Gold is entirely wrong, we need an explanation for why the oil and coal is not found in a very different pattern from the observed real world, in order to accept Gold's theory.

FYI: I think the idea that life was first created in warm porous rocks (and/or similar) to be likely true.

Re: Weight Gap

[MiniMike]

We'll close the gap twice as fast if we eat the subterranean organisms, hope they found something tasty...

Relocation

[angularbanjo]

âoeDespite extreme heat, no light, minuscule nutrition and intense pressure...â So Amazon are moving their warehouses underground?