The answer lies beneath
Beneath our planets oceans and lakes, embedded in its rocks and tree roots lay nearly half the living material on our earth.
Scientists are claiming that our “subsurface biosphere,” extending thousands of meters, may hold keys to solving major environmental, agricultural and industrial problems.
I was interested to read about an Ocean Drilling Program that will send its high-tech drill ship, the JOIDES Resolution, to the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the Canadian coast in the Northeast Pacific. They will pump dyed fluids into selected places so scientists can follow the flow of water and microbes through a maze of subsurface “plumbing.”
One objective will be to determine whether deep sea chemicals, such as hydrogen and sulfur, that don’t depend on energy from the sun on Earth’s surface can nourish subsurface microbes. Too cool!
