Subsurface Life on Earth as a Key to Unlock Extraterrestrial Mysteries.

ABSTRACT: The first forms of life on Earth were microbial, preceding the evolution of multicellular life by more than two billion years. Based on our current understanding of the origin of life, it is likely that the first life forms on any extraterrestrial world would also be microbial. Due to the extreme temperatures, radiation or aridity on most planetary surfaces, such extraterrestrial microbes would most likely dwell in subsurface environments. Earth's subsurface features a wide range of environments, including deep marine sediments, crustal aquifers, rock fracture fluids, hydrocarbon reservoirs, caves and permafrost soils. These environments are known to host an immense diversity of life forms, predominantly microbes that survive or even thrive under extreme conditions and energy scarcity. Lif

SUBMITTER: Vidal E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12712870 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature