Miraculous discovery: Creature living 10 km below the Mariana Sea level
Scientists have discovered a rich biodiversity up to 10 km deep in the Mariana Trench, opening up new horizons of biodiversity on the ocean floor.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•01/08/2025
A Chinese-led team of scientists said they have discovered a rich population of organisms nearly 10 kilometers below sea level in the Mariana Trench. This is the deepest population of living organisms ever observed. Photo: IDSSE, CAS. The Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean trench on the planet. The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is the Challenger Deep, located at the southern end of the trench. According to NOAA, the Challenger Deep is approximately 10,935m deep. Photo: IDSSE, CAS.
According to the study, in 2024, the Chinese submarine Fendouzhe took scientists to the Mariana Trench 23 times. Thanks to that, they discovered marine life populations including thousands of tubeworms and bivalve mollusks (such as clams and mussels) at depths of 2,500 - 9,533m. Photo: IDSSE, CAS. Videos released alongside the study show swarms of tubeworms up to 30cm long and clusters of the soft-bodied creatures huddled together. Photo: IDSSE, CAS. In addition, the team of experts also recorded the presence of spiny crustaceans, free-floating sea worms, sea cucumbers, ciliates and many other invertebrates at a depth of nearly 10 km below sea level in the Mariana Trench. Photo: DOERS.
The team of experts said the study marked "the discovery of the deepest and most extensive chemically-based biological community ever known on Earth." Photo: Getty Images. The scientists added that, because other ocean trenches have similar geological features, “such chemically-based biological communities may be more common than previously thought.” Photo: ummid. Scientists also say they have found compelling evidence that methane is not just seeping from the Earth’s crust, but is also produced by microorganisms. Tubeworms often congregate around snow-like “microbial mats.” Photo: Atlantic Productions for Discovery Channel.
Previous studies have found many communities of single-celled microorganisms living in the deep sea that are sparsely populated by large animals. Photo: ourbreathingplanet. Yet in 2024, a remotely operated vehicle discovered tubeworms and invertebrates living around hydrothermal vents 2 kilometers deep in the Pacific Ocean. Photo: NOAA OER, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.
Readers are invited to watch the video: Behind the success of scientists. Source: VTV24.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•01/08/2025
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