Deepest living colony, unique life found in Pacific Ocean: Study | Details of where and how
Discovery of deep-sea chemosynthesis-based communities suggests more life forms exist in unexplored ocean depths, according to a study by Chinese researchers
A Chinese submersible discovered thousands of worms and molluscs about 10 kilometres below sea level, in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, a study claimed on Wednesday. The creatures, which are the deepest living colony of their kind on Earth, thrive in absolute darkness, said an AFP report.
Almost all forms of life on the earth depend on sunlight. These creatures, however, sustain their lives in the dark, deep down in the oceans, through a process, which is referred to as chemosynthesis. Through this phenomenon, they live off of chemicals such as methane, that seep through cracks in the seafloor.
The AFP report quoted a team of China-led scientists hinting that this discovery might indicate more forms of life thriving in the hostile conditions, under the seas and oceans, the beds of which remain widely unexplored.
Last year, another manned Chinese submersible named ‘Fendouzhe’ which means ‘striver’, which is capable of reaching the deepest part of the ocean at nearly 11,000 meters, ventured about 23 times into the darkened depths of the several trenches in the Pacific Ocean, said a study by the journal Nature.
Researchers onboard Fendouzhe investigated the trench bottoms of the Kuril-Kamchatka trench and the western Aleutian trench from July 8 to August 17, 2024. The investigations resulted in the discovery of widespread cold-seep communities in both trenches, that sustain their lives through similar chemosynthesis-based processes.
The communities in the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench existed in depths ranging from 7,000 to 9,533 meters. In the Western Aleutian Trench, depths were, however, less than 7,000 meters, the report added.
Video released alongside the study showed fields of tubeworms, which grew up to 30 centimetres (12 inches) long, as well as piles of molluscs and clams.
The other creatures tapped during these dives comprised spiky crustaceans, free-floating marine worms, sea cucumbers, feathery-armed sea lilies and multiple invertebrates.
Given that other ocean trenches are similar, "such chemosynthesis-based communities might be more widespread than previously anticipated," the researchers added.
Venturing into the depths
The study came amid heated debates among countries over issues of deep-sea mining.
Nations including China and the United States have expressed interest in mining into the depths of the oceans for extracting valuable minerals, which is increasingly condemned by scientists.
Scientists argue that mining on the sea beds could decimate fragile ecosystems on the little-explored seafloor, which is one of the last wild zones on the planet and above all, not yet well understood.
Despite recent talks, the International Seabed Authority, which oversees deep-sea mining in international waters, is yet to adopt long awaited rules governing the mining industry.
The largely untapped Mariana trench
The first time when explorers went into the deepest oceanic trench on earth, the Mariana Trench, was in 1960, on a brief expedition.
The water pressure at the bottom of the trench is a crushing eight tons per square inch, more than a thousand times the atmospheric pressure at sea level, said the AFP report.
In 2012, Hollywood director James Cameron made the first solo trip to the bottom of Mariana trench. Cameron reportedly described the environment inside the trench as “desolate” and “alien”.
Since then, only a handful of people have reportedly ever visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is a crescent-shaped depression in the Earth's crust, which goes deeper than the height of the Mount Everest.
