Now science knows what is living in the 'desert' in the middle of the Pacific

Located in the center of the South Pacific, there is an area farther away from the mainland than anywhere in the world. It is called "Extreme inaccessibility" - Point Nemo , or Nemo point, and is also the place where science considers the "expired " graveyard to use "expired" space satellites and space stations. .

Extreme inaccessibility.

Point Nemo is part of the South Pacific Circuits (SPG) , and it is important that the ocean here is also different from the rest of the world. Although accounting for 10% of the world's sea area and is the largest sea current, the level of biodiversity is still extremely low. It is even considered the "desert" of the ocean because it is too "barren" for living creatures to exist.

1. The first reason is because the sea area is too far from the mainland , making nutrients from the soil almost impossible.
2. Second, the whirlpools here isolated this ocean current from the rest of the ocean.
3. Finally, UV levels in this area are extremely high .

Simulation of SPG - "barren" waters like the desert of the ocean.

Even so, SPG has not been considered a dead sea. In the world's hottest desert, there are still living creatures, so is SPG. It is just that the knowledge about it is not so much because the research is still difficult: SPG is too far and too wide with an area of ​​37 million km2.

But in the end, a group of international researchers recently claimed to have the first clue about the creatures that exist in this sea. During a six-week expedition from December 12 to January 1, 2016, the team from Max Planck Institute of Oceanography moved over 7000km, going from Chile to New Zealand by crossing SPG.

In this journey, they took some water samples at different depths, ranging from 20 - 5000m, and used the most advanced analytical system, allowing the determination of organic cells in the dark. maximum 35h.

SPG surface organic cells are only two-thirds that of the same region in the Atlantic.

"We were surprised to find that the SPG surface organic cells are only two-thirds that of the same region in the Atlantic," said Bernhard Fuchs, a member of the research team.

"This is the lowest number ever measured on the sea."

Microorganisms were found to contain about 20 common species such as SAR11, SAR116, SAR86, Prochlorococcus . Their density depends on the depth of water, due to changes in temperature, nutrient and light levels. . But notably, there is one type of name AEGEAN – 169 which appears very much on the sea surface at SPG, while previous studies only saw them at a depth of at least 500m.

"This shows that there is an interesting detail about adaptability in harsh water environments and high levels of solar radiation," said Greta Reintjes, an oceanographer in the research team.

"Obviously this is what we will continue to study further."

In "barren" places like SPG, there is still a unique and unique ecosystem.

Overall, the research results confirm that even in a "barren" place like SPG, there is a unique and unique ecosystem. Microorganisms have sought to adapt to the harsh conditions here: low nutrients, high radiation . to survive and rise.

At the present time, SPG may not be able to shake off the name of "ocean desert", but looking more positively, this is considered the clearest blue sea in the world by being too far from the mainland - or rather far from humanity.

Research published in Environmental Microbiology.