Scientist May Have Found The Earliest Life Forms On Earth & It's Near The Philippines [Video]

There is this place on Earth wherein the bottom sinks three to four times deeper that the average depth of the ocean - the Mariana Trench. Known as the deepest place on the planet, the mysterious underwater canyon may reveal how the earliest life forms survived in the past.

Pretty much made up of mud volcanoes and hypothermal vents, the Mariana Trench holds some evidence of the Earth's molten core. In particular, the remarkable place sits between the Philippine Sea and the Pacific tectonic plates.

According to National Geographic, the study was published in the journal entitled "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences". In it, the researchers claim that they have "found traces or organic materials" in the samples of mineral-rich mud from the underwater volcanoes. While they have not yet confirmed the existence of intact actual microbes, the "organic" material could indicate that even the "most extreme" environments are able to support life.

If these samples are proven to be evidence of life, then they will be the deepest living creatures ever found on the planet. Now, given the fact that the Earth has endured extreme climates from a fiery asteroid era to the ice age, scientists may soon unveil the secret of why life itself continued on. For one, the "survivors" might have gone "deep" into the Mariana Trench to hide and reproduce.

Per IFL Science, the remarkable discovery happened around 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) beneath the seafloor. The Trench itself is located about 10, 994 meters (36, 070 feet) or more. The mud volcano's inner temperature reaches the limit that scientists believe life can live up to (well not until today). Nonetheless, the temperature is measured for up to 122 degrees Celsius.

Lead author Oliver Plumper described the findings as "messages in a bottle". He earlier noted that although they do not know the exact origin of the organic material, their analysis indicates that life survives deeper than the deep people know. Plumper is an earth scientist at the Utrecht University in the Netherlands.