Deep sea
hideThe deep sea, or deep layer, is the lowest layer in the ocean, existing below the thermocline, at a depth of 1000 fathoms (1828 m) or more. Little or no light penetrates this area of the ocean, and most of its organisms rely on falling organic matter produced in the photic zone for subsistence. For this reason scientists assumed life would be sparse in the deep ocean, but virtually every probe has revealed that, on the contrary, life is abundant in the deep ocean.
From the time of Pliny until the expedition in the ship Challenger between 1872 and 1876 to prove Pliny wrong; its deep-sea dredges and trawls brought up living things from all depths that could be reached. Perhaps one day man will be more like aqua man, and roam the ocean depths with the fish creatures alike. Yet even in the twentieth century scientists continued to imagine that life at great depth was insubstantial, or somehow inconsequential. The eternal dark, the almost inconceivable pressure, and the extreme cold that exist below one thousand meters were, they thought, so forbidding as to have all but extinguished life. The reverse is in fact true....(Below 200 meters) lies the largest habitat on earth.
In 1960 the Bathyscaphe Trieste descended to the bottom of the Marianas Trench near Guam, at 35,798 feet (10,911 meters), the deepest spot on earth. If Mount Everest were submerged there, its peak would be more than a mile beneath the surface. At this great depth a small flounder-like fish was seen moving away from the bathyscaphe's spotlight. The Japanese research submersible Kaiko was the only vessel capable of reaching this depth, and it was lost in 2003.
We know more about the moon than the deepest parts of the ocean. Until the late 1970s little was known about the possibility of life on the deep ocean floor but the the discovery of thriving colonies of shrimp and other organisms around hydrothermal vents changed that. Before the discovery of the undersea vents, all life was thought to be driven by the sun. But these organisms get their nutrients from the earth's mineral deposits directly. These organisms thrive in completely lightless and anaerobic environments, in highly saline water that may reach 300 °F (149 °C), drawing their sustainance from hydrogen sulfide, which is highly toxic to all terrestrial life. The revolutionary discovery that life can exist without oxygen or light significantly increases the chance of there being life elsewhere in the universe. Scientists now speculate that Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, may have conditions that could support life beneath its surface which is speculated to be a liquid ocean beneath the icy crust.
For more information about Deep sea, read the full article at
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News tagged with deep sea
Shallow Origins
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 22, 2009 |
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In finding answers to the mystery of the origin of life, scientists may not have to dig too deep. New research is shedding light on shallower waters as a possible location for where life on Earth began.
Krill 'superswarm' formation investigated
Oct 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have been studying how krill form into superswarms, which are among the largest gatherings of living creatures on Earth.
Planet's nitrogen cycle overturned by 'tiny ammonia eater of the seas'
Sep 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It's not every day you find clues to the planet's inner workings in aquarium scum. But that's what happened a few years ago when University of Washington researchers cultured a tiny organism from the bottom ...
Scientists Find First Creature With Eyes That Use Both Refractive and Reflective Optics
Jan 27, 2009 |
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Florida Atlantic University researcher and member of the Center for Ocean Exploration and Deep-Sea Research at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Dr. Tamara Frank, was part of an international research ...
Great Lake's sinkholes host exotic ecosystems
Feb 24, 2009 |
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Researchers are exploring extreme conditions for life in a place not known for extremes.
Microbe Survives in Ocean's Deepest Realm, Thanks to Genetic Adaptations
Biology /
Feb 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The genome of a marine bacterium living 2,500 meters below the ocean's surface is providing clues to how life adapts in extreme environments, according to a paper published Feb. 6, 2009, in ...
Research team finds undersea earthquake ‘mountains'
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 30, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (5) |
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Undersea mountains several thousand meters high have been discovered subducted under a tectonic plate that constitutes the sea bottom off the Boso Peninsula in the southeastern part of the Kanto region, according to a survey ...
Protection plan deep-sea coral reefs considered
Aug 18, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Deep beneath the crystalline blue surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern U.S. lies a virtual rain forest of coral reefs so expansive the network is believed to be the world's largest.
Deep blue research digs up evolutionary past
Biology /
Nov 20, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Queensland deep sea research has dug up an insight into the evolutionary past of some of the earliest animals.
New study reveals king crabs go deep to avoid hot water
Jul 02, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
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Researchers from the University of Southampton have drawn together 200 years' worth of oceanographic knowledge to investigate the distribution of a notorious deep-sea giant - the king crab. The results, published this week ...
Fish researcher demonstrates first 'non-visual feeding' by African cichlids
Apr 13, 2009 |
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Most fish rely primarily on their vision to find prey to feed upon, but a University of Rhode Island biologist and her colleagues have demonstrated that a group of African cichlids feeds by using its lateral line sensory ...
Deep-sea fish stocks threatened
Mar 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Commercial fishing in the north-east Atlantic could be harming deep-sea fish populations a kilometre below the deepest reach of fishing trawlers, according to a 25-year study published on ...
New deep-sea observatory goes live
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 17, 2008 |
4.6 / 5 (11) |
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Off the coast of Central California, in the inky darkness of the deep sea, a bright orange metal pyramid about the size of two compact cars sits quietly on the seafloor. Nestled within the metal pyramid is ...
Biomedical research profits from the exploration of the deep sea
Biology /
Nov 19, 2008 |
4 / 5 (1) |
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A study published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE highlights how the exploration of the ocean depths can benefit humankind. This is the story of a voyage of discovery, starting with marine animals that glow, the identi ...
Successful series of measurements in Arctic sea ice
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 11, 2008 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
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The German Research Vessel Polarstern had to prove its ice breaking capabilities in Arctic waters to gain data on two series of long-term research measurements. After working in regions up to latitude 82° ...
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