Scientists uncover secrets of Earth's mantle and origins of life

Scientists have made a groundbreaking advance in understanding the origins of life on Earth by drilling deeper into the Earth's mantle than ever before.

Scientists may be on the verge of a significant breakthrough in understanding the origins of life following an unprecedented drilling project into the Earth's mantle, Caliber.Az reports citing the foreign media.

The ambitious study extracted a rock core exceeding 4,000 feet in length from the "Lost City Hydrothermal Field," located in the Atlantic Ocean. This field, often referred to simply as the "Lost City," is situated along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge—one of the world's most extensive undersea mountain ranges.

The study, detailed in the journal Science, reveals new insights into the chemical processes that could have facilitated the emergence of life deep beneath the ocean's surface. By examining these mantle rocks, researchers aim to uncover crucial information about the early conditions that may have sparked life on Earth, as well as the role of the mantle in volcanic activity and global geochemical cycles.

Led by scientists from Cardiff and Leeds Universities, the team conducted their drilling approximately 1,500 miles east of South Florida, capturing a rare and valuable sample of mantle material. This breakthrough could redefine our understanding of life’s origins and the dynamic processes shaping our planet.

Despite its name, the Lost City Hydrothermal Field isn't the site of a mythical sunken civilization but rather a unique and "bizarre" hydrothermal vent system located deep beneath the ocean floor. This extraordinary site, characterized by vents that rise up to 18 stories tall—the tallest ever recorded—catches the attention of scientists for its remarkable features and potential insights into life's origins on Earth.

The Lost City’s vents are formed from seawater interacting with ancient mantle rocks, a process that heats the fluids and creates an environment rich in chemical reactions. These reactions are crucial as they may reveal how life began on our planet billions of years ago. According to Johan Lissenberg, a geologist from Cardiff University and the lead author of the study, "The reaction between seawater and mantle rocks on or near the seafloor releases hydrogen, which in turn forms compounds like methane, foundational to microbial life. This is one of the leading hypotheses for the origin of life on Earth."

In an unprecedented drilling operation, researchers aboard the research vessel JOIDES Resolution managed to penetrate 2,800 feet below the ocean surface, extracting large sections of mantle rock. This achievement sets a new record in mantle rock drilling, surpassing previous attempts that had only reached depths of around 656 feet with minimal rock recovery.

The team, including Lissenberg and his colleagues, has documented the interactions between seawater and a mineral called olivine within the core samples, analyzing how these reactions occurred at various temperatures. These findings, along with unexpected observations of prolonged periods of melting within the rock samples, provide new insights into how microbial life might have first emerged in Earth's deep-sea environments.

This groundbreaking research promises to enhance our understanding of the fundamental processes that may have paved the way for life on Earth and sheds light on the dynamic interactions between seawater and mantle rock.