Summary: Scientists have found mysterious microbes deep in the Pacific Ocean in places that have been undisturbed for 86 million years that use an extremely small amount of oxygen. The microbes use so little oxygen that the levels used could previously not be measured. A study conducted by Hans Roy measured the amount of oxygen in sediment 100 feet below the surface of the Pacific. Roy and his team figured out how much oxygen should have normally been in each layer of the sediment from diffusion, and compared it to the results from the measurements in the sediment. The sediment had slightly less oxygen than predicted, meaning that it was consumed by these microbes. The amount of oxygen consumed by these microbes is so small that "it would take ten years for a microbe to consume the amount that a human inhales in a single breath." These microbes are also very slow moving, making them difficult to study. Scientists do not know much about these microbes yet.
Relevance: In class, we have discussed microbes and the different kinds of environments they live in. One domain of microbes discussed was Archaea, microbes that usually live in extreme environments with low oxygen levels. The microbes discussed in this article may be Archaea and definitely live in extreme environments just like some Archaea.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/science/deep-sea-microbes-that-barely-breathe.html?_r=0
By Sindya N. Bhanoo
Published May 21, 2012
Have these microbes been found in other parts of the world other than the Pacific?
ReplyDeleteI do not know whether they have been found in other places. I tried to research, but had trouble because the microbes are not specifically named in the article. I would predict that microbes similar to these could be found in other places because microbes at the beginning of life were anaerobic.
DeleteHow did they figure out that the places were undisturbed for 86 million years?
ReplyDeleteI do not know how they figured this out. I would assume that they used methods like radiometric dating to determine the age of the soil, or maybe (but less likely) they used relative dating.
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