For all you geophysists, this biologist read an article in a recent Economist about the Deep Underground Project studying earth's carbon. After reading the little blurb in the magazine, I was compelled to look further to learn more about the existence of subterranean microbes.
“Twenty years ago, the idea that there was a deep underground biosphere would have been laughed at,” said Robert Hazen, a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and leader of the Deep Carbon Observatory. “But we now know there is, because anywhere you drill you find life.” He spoke about the project on February 20 during the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, D.C.
From Physics Central http://www.physicscentral.com/buzz/bl...
“Twenty years ago, the idea that there was a deep underground biosphere would have been laughed at,” said Robert Hazen, a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and leader of the Deep Carbon Observatory. “But we now know there is, because anywhere you drill you find life.” He spoke about the project on February 20 during the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, D.C.
Also, check out the Deep Carbon Observatory page:
https://dco.gl.ciw.edu/