Author: Paul Ratner / Source: Big Think
- Scientists found a rich ecosystem deep inside the planet.
- The “deep biosphere” contains mostly bacteria and microbes.
- The amount of life below the surface is hundreds of times greater than the combined weight of all the humans.
Much more life exists below the Earth than above it, concluded an international team of researchers from the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO). In fact, about 16.5 to 25 billion tons of microorganisms dwell under the planet’s surface. That’s hundreds of times more than the combined weight of all the humans on Earth.
The scientists got their results by looking at a multitude of locations around the world, from exploring boreholes as much as 5km (3.1mi) deep, drilling 2.5 km (1.6mi) into the seafloor and getting samples from continental mines. The researchers estimate that the overall size of the underground ecosystem is twice the volume of all of the planet’s oceans (measuring 2 to 2.3 billion cubic km).
Who are the inhabitants of the so-called “deep biosphere” or “Deep Earth”? Tons of barely living “zombie” bacteria, microbes called “archaea” and other (often weird) forms of life. We are talking about creatures like barbed Altiarchaeales that prefer to reside in sulphuric springs or the single-celled Geogemma barossii that make home inside 121°C hydrothermal vents on the seafloor.
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