Where can I see life the way it was at the time of his birth? The famous film Director James Cameron is convinced that this can be done, down to the bottom of the Mariana trench. Ecosystems that have found a brave traveler, reminiscent of those that existed on our planet more than three billion years ago.

James Cameron, in its new work has made the unexpected discovery: at the bottom of the Mariana trench to a depth of 10.9 per kilometer live microbial mats - biofilms feeding on substances that they mined from the bottom sediments. Similar habitats and processes occurring in them, according to the researchers, in ancient times gave rise to a chemical reaction, which resulted in the Earth, and, probably, and in other places in the Solar system, the first living organisms.

"We believe that this chemical reaction can be the basis of metabolism, " says Kevin Hand, astrobiology the California-based Jet Propulsion laboratory (JPL). - This may be the driving force that led to the emergence of life. Probably, not only here, but in such a world as Europe (icy moon of Jupiter)".

The mission Cameron Deepsea Challenger made several dives, including one manned, in the Mariana trench in the period between January 31 and April 3 this year. In the depths of the sea Cameron immersed in person. Going down to the bottom, directed not only admire the surrounding scenery: Cameron took samples of soil and made a number of shots. Upstairs, Cameron told reporters that down there, quite dark, and the bottom looks like the surface of the moon. However, in contrast to the lifeless Earth satellite in the cold depths of the ocean still lurks life.

Found by researchers bacterial mats are quite common in ancient times the ecosystem of prokaryotes. Although some researchers consider it the equivalent of a multicellular organism to so smoothly operate the bacteria that are included in the Mat". As a rule, Mat unites several groups "narrow" specialists: one, for example, decompose only hydrogen sulfide, others prefer sulfides, third - sulfates, etc., Thus Mat "working"and using all resources in the form of chemical compounds that are around, and members of the colony share with each other organics, the resulting variety of chemosynthesis.

It is also interesting that frequently "wastes" some bacteria that are part of the Mat, are a useful resource for others. This is easily demonstrated on the example of the coexistence of two groups of bacteria - mos of fotosintetice and sulfatereducing. The first of them can photosynthesize, not using oxygen as higher plants, and hydrogen sulfide. However, a by-product of their activity are sulfur oxides, which, once in the water, immediately form sulfuric acid, and then sulfates. These sulfates - desirable food for sulfatereducing that restore them using hydrogen. But a by-product of this process is a hydrogen sulfide, which uses the first group of bacteria.

Thus, if two groups of these bacteria will live within the same Mat, it would make quite a self-contained ecosystem. And if we add to them methane oxidizing bacteria as donors of hydrogen (they oxidize methane to form carbon dioxide and molecular hydrogen) and methanogenic bacteria that using carbon dioxide and molecular hydrogen produced by metadatalease, is obtained as a by-product of the methane, which is so necessary first group, "the economic activity" Statesboro balanced. Then hydrogen is not far to seek, it can supply other members of the colony. In short, the Mat is an almost non-waste plant, which has not yet been able to create people, well, nature has created its more than three billion years ago!

In the Mariana trench, as the results of the expedition, live not only microbial "mats" - there was also noticed several previously unknown to science representatives of the animal world. For example, giant 17-inch crustaceans, amphipods (Amphipoda), they are called in Russia amphipods, they look very similar to the shrimp. The study of these crustaceans showed that in their body contain compounds that helps tissues to better work in an extremely high pressure.

"One of these compounds is scyllioid, identical in composition under test now the drug for the destruction of amyloid plaques, which are connected with the development of Alzheimer's disease", " notes Doug Bartlett, a microbiologist from the SCRIPPS Institute of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. Your turn to researchers wait another 20 thousand microbes taken from the Mariana trench.

Another "beginner" found at the depth of 8.2 km Novosretenka trench off the coast of Papua New Guinea. He was the representative of sea cucumbers, or holothurians (Holothurioidea) - funny creatures from the group of echinoderms (Echinodermata). "They existed at these depths in the past, but were not captured on film. We saw one of them and I think that he represents a new type," said Bartlett. And the walls of the gutter decorated with a huge number zheludevich worms, deep-water invertebrates, which bombard the bottom of the basin, its spiral excrement. "If you have never thought of worms with love, then watch this video, would love them" - assures Bartlett.

Video Cameron visible not only deep-sea inhabitants, but also the oldest sea bottom on the planet. One hundred and eighty million years ago when the Earth was still walking dinosaurs rocks at the bottom of the Mariana trench were fiery lava. And shots taken by the Director in new England the gutter, are likely to be a record depth of space shooting lava pillows, believes marine geologist Patty fryer from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.

Changed breeds, providing food microbial mats are part of young tectonic plates atop an ancient bottom of the Pacific. The Mariana trench is a subduction zone, where two tectonic plates collided and one of them came over to another. Percolating through the pile of rocks water changes the composition of the rocks by means of serpentinization. During this process are formed sulfur, methane and hydrogen, which gives the bacteria in food.

In recent years, scientists believe that early life on Earth was born about four billion years ago in subduction zones, like the Mariana trench. In these gutters temperature was below, and serpentinous breed gave the necessary impetus to the chemical reaction that led to the origin of life.

"These chutes could be a place where life arose, " says Cameron. - This secret must be solved. I hope we'll ponimaem". So far, new dives are planned, but, according to the Director, submersible and lowered submersibles are operational and are now stored on the territory of the mansion.