COSEE Ocean Systems: News
High rates of microbial carbon turnover in sediments in the deepest oceanic trench on Earth
Description: For this study researchers presented observations of microbial activity in sediments at Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench in the central west Pacific, which at almost 11,000 m depth represents the deepest oceanic site on Earth. They used an autonomous micro-profiling system to assess benthic oxygen consumption rates. They concluded the elevated deposition of organic matter at Challenger Deep maintains intensified microbial activity at the extreme pressures that characterize this environment. [Source: Nature Geoscience]
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1773
Availability: Summary
Source: Nature Geoscience
Publish Date: 3/17/2013
Reading Level: Expert
Page Length:  

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