New microscopic organisms found in deep sea trench baffle Chile scientists

When Osvaldo Ulloa led an expedition 8,000 meters under the sea to an area where no human had ever been, his team found more questions than answers.

The meeting of two plates in the eastern Pacific Ocean created the Atacama Trench.

The director of the Millennium Institute of Oceanography at the University of Concepcion told Agence France-Presse that they pulled off the feat of taking humans into the trench.

He was joined by Victor Vescovo and Millennium assistant director Ruben Escribano on a 12-week journey through the 5,900-kilometer (3, 650-mile) long trench off the northern coast of Chile.

By the time the expedition reached a depth of 100 meters, it was already dark, with the crew only able to see what the submarine could illuminate.

Remarkable examples of deep sea life were found further down.

We came across geological structures and we saw a type of sea cucumbers that were probably new to us.

We discovered that the communities that feed on chemical and inorganic compounds were found in the Atacama Trench.

That opened up a lot of questions about what those compounds are. What type ofbacteria are they? We don't know, we're going to have to go back there.

The species of amphipods found on the expedition were closely related to shrimp. They were discovered in the same place.

It is incredibly ambitious.

The Peru-Chile Trench is located in the middle of the Nazca and South American tectonic plates.

It has been the location of many earthquakes.

We will put three sensors on the South American Plate and two on the Nazca Plate to see how the ocean floor changes.

For the moment, these types of sensors only exist on land.

Scientists will be able to predict where the next earthquake will take place with the help of the devices.

Ulloa said that the project is the largest experiment that has been done in underwater geology in Chile.

The second half of this year will see the placement of the sensors.

There is a lot of interest from the international community to put more sensors in this region to study all the processes associated with the collision of these two plates.

There will be a new year in 2022.

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