Unprecedented Discovery of Mantle Rocks with Signs of Life

Scientists have made an astonishing finding. They've discovered mantle rocks with signs of life in addition to evidence of unique carbon cycling and ocean crust movement.

The latest study was conducted on a 47-day research expedition to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There, researchers collected an unprecedented sequence of rock samples from the shallow mantle of the ocean crust that bore signs of life, unique carbon cycling and ocean crust movement.

"The rocks collected on the expedition provide unique records of deep processes that formed the Atlantic Massif," said Gretchen Fruh-Green, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We will also gain valuable insight into how these rocks react with circulating seawater at the seafloor during a process we call serpentinization and its consequences for chemical cycles and life.

Interestingly, during drilling, the researchers found evidence for hydrogen and methane in their samples, which microbes can "eat" to grow and form new cells. Similar rocks and gases can be found on other planets. This means that studying the rocks on Earth and connecting them to life may actually allow researchers to target their efforts to find out if life existed on other planets.

While the research could have implications for other planets, the main aims of the expedition were to determine how mantle rocks are brought to the seafloor and how they react with seawater. This could tell them a bit more about the history of our planet and how life may have first begun to form on Earth.

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