Back when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth, some hardy bacteria took up residence at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Eighty six million years later, they're still there. And a new study says they're living out the most Spartan lifestyle known on this planet.
They live in a place called the Pacific Gyre, where almost nothing reaches the seafloor. Nutrients from the world's rivers don't get out that far. Most plankton that die in the water dissolve long before any pieces of them can reach the seafloor far below. It's a rare day indeed when even a single particle lands in any given spot on the bottom.
"They left the surface 86 million years ago with one lunch box, and they're still eating out of it. It's like they're splitting a pie, and they keep splitting in half and in half and in half, but nobody ever eats the last crumble. It's quite remarkable." Says Hans Roy, aquatic ecologist, Aarhus University
Listen to the Radio broadcast about these amazing microbes Here:
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/17/152936168/ancient-deep-sea-bacteria-are-in-no-hurry-to-eat
They live in a place called the Pacific Gyre, where almost nothing reaches the seafloor. Nutrients from the world's rivers don't get out that far. Most plankton that die in the water dissolve long before any pieces of them can reach the seafloor far below. It's a rare day indeed when even a single particle lands in any given spot on the bottom.
"They left the surface 86 million years ago with one lunch box, and they're still eating out of it. It's like they're splitting a pie, and they keep splitting in half and in half and in half, but nobody ever eats the last crumble. It's quite remarkable." Says Hans Roy, aquatic ecologist, Aarhus University
Listen to the Radio broadcast about these amazing microbes Here:
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/17/152936168/ancient-deep-sea-bacteria-are-in-no-hurry-to-eat