Between Japan and Alaska, a dark alien world at 31,000 feet has stunned scientists. Here's why

In the depths of the Pacific Ocean, thrives an entire world no one imagined could be possible. Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences led an expedition in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Between Japan and Alaska, way down at 31,000 feet, they discovered deep-sea creatures living in one of the most extreme conditions on Earth. Marine life exists side by side with land creatures, but what was remarkable about these life forms was that they had developed a whole ecology without the sun. Sunlight cannot penetrate so deeply into the ocean. So, life forms do not depend on the process of photosynthesis to thrive and survive. Instead, they use a completely unique process to create a food chain in pitch-dark surroundings. The discovery was published in the journal Nature. Scientists were baffled to see life forms having created a whole new world at such depths without using the Sun in any form. Also Read: Scientists stumbled upon four pitch-black eggs 20,000 feet below ocean. They turned out to be...
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Discovery made at an even deeper level than the Titanic wreckage

The study states that creatures discovered here used a process called chemosynthesis. As part of this, deep-sea microbes convert compounds like methane and hydrogen sulfide into organic matter. Despite everything being completely dark, this process triggers the formation of a new food chain in the ocean. Mengran Du, a researcher at the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that this is the deepest level at which chemosynthetic life has been discovered in the ocean. The discovery is a breakthrough as it proves that life is capable of surviving in highly extreme conditions, more than was once thought possible. At 31,000 feet, the finding made is remarkable. It is even deeper than where the famous shipwreck Titanic was discovered. The iconic ship that sank on its first voyage sits 12,500 feet down in the Atlantic. Also Read: Scientists say Canadian fault line dormant for 40 million years is stewing, warn of major earthquake

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Only a few vessels can reach that depths

The team used the submersible Fendouzhe to reach this portion of the seafloor, the first time humans were directly observing this region. What they saw left them awestruck. There were marine organisms that appeared to be aliens; in fact, the whole world was extremely news to the scientists. There were vast fields of tube worms and marine snails slithering on the seafloor that had evolved in complete isolation using only chemical energy. This stark discovery has led scientists to wonder if life could exist in such an area, and where else it could be thriving. Humans have only explored a minuscule part of the ocean, and vast areas still remain unreachable. More such life forms may exist across the planet and remain undiscovered. Their minds are racing outside Earth as well, as it is possible that life might be thriving in some form in space as well.