Huge hidden biomass lives deep beneath the oceans

    * 19:00 22 May 2008
    * NewScientist.com news service
    * Catherine Brahic

It's the basement apartment like no other. Life has been found 1.6 kilometres beneath the sea floor, at temperatures reaching 100 °C.

The discovery marks the deepest living cells ever to be found beneath the sea floor. Bacteria have been found deeper underneath the continents, but there they are rare. In comparison, the rocks beneath the sea appear to be teeming with life.