New sulfate-breathing species discovered beneath ocean crust: One-third of Earth's biomass in this largely uncharted environment
Thursday, January 15, 2015 - 10:00
in Earth & Climate
Two miles below the surface of the ocean, researchers have discovered new microbes that "breathe" sulfate. The microbes, which have yet to be classified and named, exist in massive undersea aquifers -- networks of channels in porous rock beneath the ocean where water continually churns. About one-third of the Earth's biomass is thought to exist in this largely uncharted environment.