Deep biosphere has endured mountain-building and erosion over hundreds of millions of years

A recent study published in Communications Earth & Environment reveals that microbial life within Earth's deep biosphere has endured and repeatedly flourished through hundreds of millions of years of mountain-building and erosion. Researchers analyzed minerals, fluids, and gases from a 2.3-kilometer-deep borehole in central Sweden and discovered episodic bursts of methane-producing life linked to major geological events that shaped Scandinavia.

The study, led by scientists at Linnaeus University, analyzed calcite minerals from the borehole and found exceptional carbon isotope values indicative of microbial methanogenesis. By dating the minerals using high-precision U–Pb dating, the researchers determined multiple distinct episodes of microbial activity spanning from approximately 378 million years ago to as recently as 1.8 million years ago.

This demonstrates that the deep biosphere is not static, responding to geological processes over vast timescales and showing remarkable resilience in surviving tectonic upheaval, burial, uplift, and changing temperatures.

Brief written by urgent.news from Phys.org's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.