Beneath our feet, in sunless depths once thought barren, a vast and vibrant ecosystem thrives.
A groundbreaking study by Chinese and Canadian scientists has revealed the surprising “energy engine” powering this hidden biosphere: the very breaking and grinding of Earth’s crust during earthquakes and tectonic shifts.
Forget 19th century French novelist Jules Verne’s fantastical depictions of mastodons and giant dragonflies dwelling in mushroom forests nine to 12 metres (30 to 40 feet) tall in an illuminated subterranean world. Traditional science held that kilometres below the surface, cut off from sunlight and surface organics, life could not exist.
Yet, recent discoveries have unveiled a massive, active deep biosphere, harbouring an estimated 95 per cent of Earth’s prokaryotes and constituting roughly one-fifth of Earth’s total biomass.
But how do these microbes survive in the deepest, most isolated zones?
A study led by Zhu Jianxi and He Hongping, professors at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Kurt Konhauser, professor at the University of Alberta, provides an answer.
