Drill Core (IMAGE)

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Drill Core

Caption

These remarkable rocks, recovered by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) on board the drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution, are from the Earth's upper mantle that underwent intense alteration by heated seawater. The rocks show a systematic change in color from rusty brown (top) to green and black (bottom), reflecting the chemical gradients across the fluid mixing zone. These chemical gradients played a key role in supporting microbes with chemical energy and the substrates they needed to thrive. Fossilized microbes were found in white veins consisting of the minerals calcite and brucite.

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Photo courtesy of Ocean Drilling Program

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