科普知识学英语海 洋最深处遍布微生物.docVIP

The deepest place in the ocean is teeming with microscopic life, a study suggests. 研究发现，海洋中最深处充满了微生物。 ? An international team of scientists found that the very bottom of the Mariana Trench, which lies almost 11km down in the Pacific Ocean, had high levels of microbial activity.? ? The research is published in the journal Nature Geoscience.? ? The underwater?canyon（峡谷）?was once thought to be too?hostile（敌对的）?an environment for life to exist. ? But this study adds to a growing body of evidence that a range of creatures can cope with the near-freezing temperatures, immense pressures and complete darkness. ? Dr Robert Turnewitsch, one of the authors of the paper from the Scottish Association for Marine Science, said: The deepest parts of the deep sea are certainly not dead zones. ? Carbon sink ? In 2010, the scientists sent an unmanned submersible down into the vast underwater canyon, where it collected samples of the murky（黑暗的） sediment that cakes the sea floor. ? An analysis of the levels of oxygen in the sample revealed the presence of a large number of microbes. ? Dr Turnewitsch explained: These microbes, they?respire（呼吸）?as we do. And this oxygen consumption is an indirect measurement of the activity of the community. ? Surprisingly, these primitive, single-celled organisms were twice as active at the bottom of the trench than they were at a nearby 6km-deep (four miles) site. ? They were feasting on a plentiful supply of dead plants and creatures that had drifted down from the sea surface, the decomposing matter becoming trapped within the steep walls of the trench.? ? The amount of food down there and also the relative freshness of the material is surprisingly high - it seems to be surprisingly nutritious, said Dr Turnewitsch.? ? The level of material found at the bottom of the trench was so high that it suggests the Mariana Trench - which is in an area of the ocean known as the Hadal zone - could play a key part in the carbon cycle and therefore in regulating