Researchers from Linnaeus University uncovered astonishing life deep within Sweden’s Siljan impact crater. At a depth of roughly 380 meters, in conditions of total darkness and an absence of oxygen, unique bacteria and archaea reside. This discovery is reported by the publication ASM Journals, citing data from scientific observations. Scientists managed to extract samples of water and oil to thoroughly examine these organisms in a laboratory setting.
When experts recreated the natural habitat and supplemented necessary nutrients, the microbes immediately showed metabolic activity. It turned out that the colony’s survival hinges on a complex symbiosis: one group of microorganisms releases hydrogen, which is itself toxic to them. However, this element serves as essential sustenance for another group, which processes it and during its life cycle emits methane, ensuring the stability of the entire enclosed ecosystem.
This finding allowed scientists to propose a bold hypothesis regarding the Red Planet. Since comparable impact craters exist on Mars, they could theoretically function as refuges for similar extremophile life forms, concealed from the harsh surface. Moreover, rovers on Mars have already recorded mysterious methane emissions, the source of which has not yet been precisely determined, and the Swedish finding offers a quite plausible biological explanation for this phenomenon.
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