Study: There could be life deep beneath the Earth's crust

Study: There could be life deep beneath the Earth&#039;s crust

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last updated 8 January 2015

A new study published in the journal Nature explains that there is likely more water beneath the Earth's crust than on top of it — and that below-crust water may contain life.

Researchers from the University of Toronto looked at data from 19 mine sites in Canada, South Africa, and Scandinavia, and found 2.5 cubic miles of water. The water had reacted with billions-of-years-old Precambrian rocks to produce hydrogen, the BBC reports, which could be a food source for potential life. The researchers also estimate that their findings double the amount of hydrogen believed to be on Earth.