tiny organisms thrive below earth's surface

What Lies Beneath: Tiny Organisms Thrive Below Earth's Surface


December 29, 2013

Over the last several decades, researchers have probed the microbial communities living on the seafloor, then gradually pushed beneath the surface. Deeper and deeper, scientists still found life. The deepest life yet found are bacteria living 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) below the surface in South African gold mines. (And in 2011, scientists even found worms that live underground and eat those bacteria.)

*** Broader implications

The findings have broader implications for life on Earth. For one, deep bacteria, like their aboveground brethren, play a role in the breakdown and cycling of carbon in the environment. That, in turn, affects how much carbon dioxide reaches the atmosphere and alters the climate.

All of it:
http://www.livescience.com/42213-insights-census-deep-life.html