Together with researchers from the China and Russia, they undertook the most comprehensive analysis of microbial populations in the trench.
Together with researchers from the China and Russia, they undertook the most comprehensive analysis of microbial populations in the trench.
The Mariana Trench is located in the Western Pacific Ocean and reaches a depth of approximately 11,000 metres. By comparison, Mount Everest is 8,848 metres high.
“We know more about Mars than the deepest part of the ocean,” said Prof Xiao-Hua Zhang of the Ocean University in China, who led the study.
To date, only a few expeditions have investigated the organisms inhabiting this ecosystem.
One of these expeditions was organized and led by noted marine explorer and Academy Award-winning film director James Cameron, who built a specialised submersible to collect samples in the trench.
Dr Jonathan Todd, from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “Our research team went down to collect samples of the microbial population at the deepest part of the Mariana Trench – some 11,000 metres down. We studied the samples that were brought back and identified a new group of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria.
“Hydrocarbons are organic compounds that are made of only hydrogen and carbon atoms, and they are found in many places, including crude oil and natural gas.
Read more at University of East Anglia
