Flourishing chemosynthetic life at the greatest depths of hadal trenches

Xiaotong Peng, Mengran Du (), Andrey Gebruk, Shuangquan Liu, Zhaoming Gao, Ronnie N. Glud, Peng Zhou, Ruoheng Wang, Ashley A. Rowden, Gennady M. Kamenev, Anastassya S. Maiorova, Dominic Papineau, Shun Chen, Jinwei Gao, Helu Liu, Yuan He, Inna L. Alalykina, Igor Yu. Dolmatov, Hanyu Zhang, Xuegong Li, Marina V. Malyutina, Shamik Dasgupta, Anastasiia A. Saulenko, Vladimir A. Shilov, Shuting Liu, Tongtong Xie, Yuangao Qu, Xikun Song, Haibin Zhang, Hao Liu, Weijia Zhang, Xiaoxia Huang, Hongzhou Xu, Wenjing Xu, Vladimir V. Mordukhovich () and Andrey V. Adrianov
Additional contact information
Xiaotong Peng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mengran Du: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Andrey Gebruk: Russian Academy of Sciences
Shuangquan Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhaoming Gao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ronnie N. Glud: University of Southern Denmark
Peng Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ruoheng Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ashley A. Rowden: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
Gennady M. Kamenev: Russian Academy of Sciences
Anastassya S. Maiorova: Russian Academy of Sciences
Dominic Papineau: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shun Chen: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jinwei Gao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Helu Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yuan He: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Inna L. Alalykina: Russian Academy of Sciences
Igor Yu. Dolmatov: Russian Academy of Sciences
Hanyu Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xuegong Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Marina V. Malyutina: Russian Academy of Sciences
Shamik Dasgupta: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Anastasiia A. Saulenko: Russian Academy of Sciences
Vladimir A. Shilov: Russian Academy of Sciences
Shuting Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Tongtong Xie: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yuangao Qu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xikun Song: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Haibin Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hao Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Weijia Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiaoxia Huang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hongzhou Xu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wenjing Xu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Vladimir V. Mordukhovich: Russian Academy of Sciences
Andrey V. Adrianov: Russian Academy of Sciences

Nature, 2025, vol. 645, issue 8081, 679-685

Abstract: Abstract Hadal trenches, some of the Earth’s least explored and understood environments, have long been proposed to harbour chemosynthesis-based communities1,2. Despite increasing attention, actual documentation of such communities has been exceptionally rare3,4. Here we report the discovery of the deepest and the most extensive chemosynthesis-based communities known to exist on Earth during an expedition to the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench and the western Aleutian Trench using the manned submersible Fendouzhe. The communities dominated by siboglinid Polychaeta and Bivalvia span a distance of 2,500 km at depths from 5,800 m to 9,533 m. These communities are sustained by hydrogen sulfide-rich and methane-rich fluids that are transported along faults traversing deep sediment layers in trenches, where methane is produced microbially from deposited organic matter, as indicated by isotopic analysis. Given geological similarities with other hadal trenches, such chemosynthesis-based communities might be more widespread than previously anticipated. These findings challenge current models of life at extreme limits and carbon cycling in the deep ocean.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09317-z

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