Analysis of gases seeping from the seafloor suggests microbes are consuming organic matter that accumulates in the trenches and belching methane after their meals. Symbiotic bacteria inside the tubeworms and mollusks, in turn, absorb the methane and hydrogen sulfide from those cold seeps to produce organic matter to nourish their hosts.
The process, called chemosynthesis, may seem like an alien way for an animal to score dinner, but Papineau noted that humans have their own colonies of microbes that aid in digestion. "We ourselves have bacteria in our gut," he said...
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