Scientists Discover Signs Of Life On Earth's Mantle Rocks

Scientists have found signs of life on Earth's mantle rocks in addition to evidence of ocean crust movement and unique carbon cycling.

A 47-day research expedition allowed the latest study conducted on the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Researchers collected there some sequence of rock samples from the shallow mantle of the ocean crust. They have found that the samples collected bore signs of unique carbon cycling and ocean crust movement, but the most astonishing discovery was signs of life.

According to one of the researchers, Gretchen Fruh-Green, the rocks collected provide unique records of processes forming the Atlantic Massif. The findings were published in a news release. The study helped scientists to gain valuable insight into how these rocks react during a process called serpentinization, when the rocks come in contact with circulating seawater at the seafloor. This process has important consequences for life and chemical cycles.

The researchers found evidence for methane and hydrogen in their samples. According to scientists, microbes can feed on hydrogen and methane in order to grow and form new cells.

Studying rocks on Earth can help scientists to better estimate if life exists on other planets, since similar rocks and gases can be found elsewhere in the universe. The study can also help researches to understand more about how life first begun on our planet and about the history of Earth.

According to Science World Report, the international team of scientists led by Co-Chief Scientists Dr. Gretchen Früh-Green (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) and Dr. Beth Orcutt (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, USA), used seabed rock drills from the U.K. and Germany. This is the first time when such technology has been used in the history of the scientific ocean drilling program.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 357 has been conducted by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD). The expedition started on October 26, 2015, from Southampton, UK, and returned on Dec. 11, 2015. The team of scientists was aboard the Royal Research Vessel James Cook. The science party has been studying during the past two weeks the rock samples at the IODP Bremen Core Repository in Bremen, Germany.