Deep-Sea Life Discovered in Pacific Trenches

An underwater voyage in the Kuril–Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches of the northwest Pacific Ocean has revealed extensive networks of tubeworms and mollusks thriving at depths over 31,000 feet. This discovery, published in Nature (journal) by researchers including Mengran Du from the China — Chinese Academy of Sciences and Vladimir Mordukhovich from the Russian Academy of Sciences, challenges previous assumptions about life's potential in extreme deep-sea environments. Scientists believe these creatures may survive by capitalizing on carbon accumulated in the trenches, processed by microbes to create chemicals. Julie Huber of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution commented on the significance of the findings.