HILO, Hawaii, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Researchers have found evidence of bacteria living more than 4,000 feet below the island of Hawaii, conditions that mimic Mars' environment.
Martin Fisk of Oregon State University in Corvallis discovered clues that bacteria thrived in a deep Earth core sample taken from near the town of Hilo on Hawaii's Big Island, ABC News reported Wednesday.
Fisk and his colleagues used microscopic analysis of the sample, taken from more than 4,000 feet beneath the surface of Hawaii, to find tiny burrows carved out by micro-organisms that were able to find nutrients to survive within volcanic rock. They also found DNA and RNA, two molecules necessary for life.
"RNA especially degrades quite quickly," Fisk said. "That tells us that quite recently there was something living within the rock."
It also suggests that if life can survive in such a hostile environment as deep volcanic rock, it might survive on other planets.
"The conditions are suitable on Mars and some of the bigger moons in the solar system to support life," Fisk says. The volcanic rocks of Hawaii have all the elements necessary for life, including carbon, phosphorous and nitrogen. All that's needed is water, he said.
