A new study shows that the ancient rocks deep under the earth’s crust to produce more hydrogen than previously expected – the situation with the deep-sea hydrothermal vents near the conditions are similar, and it is the latter supporting a thriving ecosystems. This finding is in even the surface of Mars on Earth looking deep microbes provide a roadmap.
Researchers in the “Nature” magazine published the latest report of the results of this study.
Scientists once thought that the subsurface microbial ecosystem energy consumption is coming from the surface penetration, which means the existence of these ecosystems ultimately depends on sunlight and photosynthesis. However, underground microbial communities related to chemical substances – such as hydrogen – eating discovery has put forward a question, namely how common these biomes in the end?
To find the answer, University of Toronto geoscientists Barbara Sherwood Lollar and her colleagues, in more than 200 32 borehole mining sites – mostly in Canada, South Africa and Scandinavia – collected Hydrogen generated data.
The researchers used this information to estimate the deep continental crust in the oldest part of how much hydrogen can be generated, which will help determine the possible presence of underground life forms area.
The oldest rocks on Earth is 4.6 billion years ago to 5.5 billion years of Precambrian continental lithosphere. The researchers calculated that through the gas produced annually about these rocks are estimates 100 times before scientists. There are two chemical reaction to produce gas, one of rock’s natural radioactive water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.
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