'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet undersea
Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure


What happened
A Chinese-led team of researchers exploring 9.5 kilometers (31,000 feet) below sea level in the northwest Pacific Ocean discovered "thriving communities" of tubeworms, mollusks and other creatures living in some of the ocean's deepest trenches, as reported Wednesday in the journal Nature. Traveling in a submersible called Fendouzhe for hours at a time, the international team covered 1,500 miles of the little-explored Kuril–Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches over 40 days last summer.
Who said what
It's "exciting" to "go to a place that human beings have not explored," study co-author Xiaotong Peng told the BBC. "And what we saw was quite amazing." The researchers photographed and filmed beds of clams and "dense clusters of tubeworms with tentacles tinged bloodred" being scaled by "iridescent snails" as "bristly, white creatures" wriggled between them "like rush-hour commuters," The Washington Post said. Some of them are believed to be unknown species.
The existence of these creatures, living in the frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure, challenges "long-standing assumptions about life's potential at extreme depths," the authors said. They posited that the trench-dwelling invertebrates survived off the chemosynthesis of near-freezing methane and hydrogen sulfide seeping from the ocean floor.
What next?
Future studies will "focus on how these deep-sea creatures adapted to survive in such extreme conditions and how exactly they harness chemical reactions for food," The Associated Press said. "They must have some trick, or they must have some unique metabolic pathway, to adapt to the high pressure," said study co-author Mengran Du.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Harris rules out run for California governor
Speed Read The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee ended months of speculation about her plans for the contest
-
'Fossil-fired grids have provided a cautionary tale'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump sets new tariff rates as deadline nears
Speed Read New tariff rates for South Korea, Brazil and India announced
-
What would happen to Earth if humans went extinct?
The Explainer Human extinction could potentially give rise to new species and climates
-
Bad news, alpha males. You likely don't actually exist.
Under the radar Most primate communities are egalitarian
-
Scientists and Peter Jackson attempt to bring back an extinct bird — kind of
In the Spotlight Colossal Biosciences was the company behind the 'resurrected' dire wolves
-
Retro tomatoes: a species of the plant is evolving backward
Under the radar Environmental factors may play a role
-
Scientists are the latest 'refugees'
In the spotlight Brain drain to brain gain
-
Scientists want to regrow human limbs. Salamanders could lead the way.
Under the radar Humans may already have the genetic mechanism necessary
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
A potentially mutating bat virus has some scientists worried about the next pandemic
Under the Radar One subgroup of bat merbecovirus has scientists concerned