Microorganisms unknown to science discovered in a deep-sea trench off the coast of Chile

Scientists Osvaldo Ulloa and Victor Vescovo dived into the Chilean Trench (Atacama Trench) in the Pacific Ocean to a depth of 8,000 meters. They first studied the ocean floor of this area and discovered organisms previously unknown to science. About it writes science alert.

The "pasture" of holothurians found at the very bottom was quite dense and extensive. Such an accumulation of such microorganisms indicates a fairly active life at such an incredible depth, the scientists noted.

They also found communities of filamentous bacteria, the existence of which in this trench had not previously been recorded anywhere. This discovery raised even more questions among scientists about the nature of life in these waters.

Another surprise from the bottom is confirmation that amphipods, crustaceans closely related to shrimp, live at this depth. They were first discovered there during an unmanned expedition in 2018.

The Atacama Trench, also known as the Peru-Chile Trench, is located at the junction of tectonic plates off the coast of Chile in the Pacific Ocean.

The expedition made a dive in a special bathyscaphe. At a depth of 100 meters, only pitch darkness awaited the scientists, barely illuminated by the powerful searchlight of the deep-sea vehicle.

There are several more dives ahead, which will allow us to study the basin in more detail, as well as place special sensors to monitor the deformation of the ocean floor. Previously, they were installed only on land.