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Article: Biological activity found 1,000 feet below surface. (Oceanography).
- Article from:
- USA TODAY
- Article date:
- June 1, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Society for the Advancement of Education. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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An abundance of microbial life has been discovered deep beneath the ocean floor in ancient basalt that forms part of the Earth's crust, in research that continues to expand the realm of seemingly hostile or remote environments in which living organisms can apparently thrive. Scientists from Oregon State University, Corvallis, and several other institutions conducted the research off the coast of Oregon near a seafloor spreading center on the Juan de Fuca Ridge.
In 3,500,000-year-old crust almost 1,000 feet beneath the bottom of the ocean, they found moderately hot water moving through the heavily fractured basalt. The water was depleted in sulfate and greatly ...