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15 - Deep Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2020

Simon Mitton
Simon Mitton
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

This chapter on deep carbon subsurface life opens at the 2018 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington, DC, where Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) scientists showcased stupendous discoveries about deep life.1 Earth’s most pristine ecosystem, the deep biosphere, is home to members of all three domains of life: Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya.2,3 Archaea and Bacteria are microbes, and the Eukarya include fungi, algae, unicellar organisms with organelles, as well as plants and animals. Unicellular organisms exist everywhere on Earth’s surface, from the thermophiles in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park to the microbes living in your refrigerator or below the ice sheets of Siberia and Antarctica. The huge surprise that captivated the public following the press releases at AGU was the immense mass of carbon directly associated with subsurface bacterial life. Researchers estimated that this reservoir holds 15–23 billion tonnes of organic deep carbon.

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From Crust to Core
A Chronicle of Deep Carbon Science
 , pp. 303 - 332
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Deep Life
  • Simon Mitton, University of Cambridge
  • Book: From Crust to Core
  • Online publication: 19 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316997475.017
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  • Deep Life
  • Simon Mitton, University of Cambridge
  • Book: From Crust to Core
  • Online publication: 19 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316997475.017
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Deep Life
  • Simon Mitton, University of Cambridge
  • Book: From Crust to Core
  • Online publication: 19 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316997475.017
Available formats
×