Trash Found On The Bottom Of The Ocean 37,000 Feet Down

Facebook Tweet LinkedIn

Over the past decade, environmental disasters that have damaged the world’s oceans have been chronicled. These range from garbage dumping in rivers that flow into the world’s largest bodies of water to thousands of tons of plastics dumped directly every year. There is evidence that trash is in the deepest parts of the ocean, down as much as 37,000 feet.

The Chinese submersible Fendouzhe made the discoveries. Their research paper, titled “Microbial ecosystems and ecological driving forces in the deepest ocean sediments, ” was published in the journal Cell. Surprisingly, the scientists found diverse biology at these great depths.

Extreme Environment

The authors wrote they found, “Extraordinarily high novelty, diversity, and heterogeneity were observed in the hadal microbiome, especially among prokaryotes and viruses, which are impacted by both the broader context of extreme environmental conditions as well as the delicate topography in the hadal zone,”

The journal Science reports that some of the discoveries were shocking. These included plastic bags, beer bottles, soda cans, and a laundry basket. “This was deeply shocking to us,’ these scientists posted.

Effects On Human Life

What comes next is determining the extent to which widespread pollution in the oceans affects human life. The most obvious effect is on the food chain, which, in many cases, is fish and crustaceans. Given the vastness of the oceans, little can be done.