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  Underground Life

  Until about the late 1980s,most scientists believed that life was restricted to the top few meters of the soil or ocean sediments.The few reports of organisms being recovered from great depths within Earth were dismissed as contamination with material from the surface layers.Two technical developments changed this view.The first was the development of drilling techniques that gave confidence that samples could be retrieved from depth without contamination.Samples were recovered using a diamond-studded drill bit that headed a great length of rotating steel pipe from a drilling derrick.A concentrated tracer material was added to the lubricating fluid so that when a deep sample of rock was removed,any contaminated material could be identified and cut away to leave a pristine sample of rock from deep within Earth.The second development was the advent of techniques for identifying microorganisms without having to grow them in culture.All organisms contain DNA, and their presence can be revealed by dyes that either stain DNA directly or can be attached to nucleicacid probes.By varying the nucleic acid probe,scientists can demonstrate the presence of different types of microorganisms.The first scientists to use these techniques were involved in the Subsurface Science Program of the United States Department of Energy(DOE).They were interested in the possibility that if organisms existed in the depths of Earth,they might degrade organic pollutants and help maintain the purity of groundwater or,rather less usefully,degrade the containers in which the DOE was proposing to deposit the radioactive waste from nuclear facilities. They demonstrated the presence of many different types of microorganisms in rocks at depths down to 500 meters beneath the surface.Since then,microbes have been discovered in many different types of rocks and deep within ocean sediments.The record depth at which life has been found is at the bottom of a South African gold mine, 3.5 kilometers below ground Pressure and temperatures as high as 150°C.This would allow organisms to exist to depths of about 7 kilometers beneath the seafloor and to 4 kilometers below the surface of the land.Although the organisms are often sparsely distributed, this is such an enormous volume that it has been estimated that the total biomass of deep subsurface organisms exceeds that of those living on, or just below,the surface.

  Bacteria are the most numerous of these subsurface organisms,but there are also fungi and protozoa.Some 10,000 strains of microorganism have been isolated from subsurface cores. Each gram of rock contains anything from 100 bacteria to 10 million bacteria (compared with more than 1 billion per gram in agricultural soils);ocean sediments contain even higher numbers.The protozoa feed on the bacteria,forming part of a simple subterranean food chain,but what do the bacteria feed on?Sedimentary rocks are formed from sands and from ocean,river,or lake sediments that have organic material trapped within them.Microbes living in pores within thesediments can utilize these ancient nutrients and minerals.The distribution of microorganisms is thus likely to become more patchy, condensed into the remaining pores and concentrations of nutrients The bulk of Earth's crust,however, consists of igneous rocks,such as granite and basalt,which are solidified from molten magma.These rocks were too hot to support life when they were first formed;the organisms that inhabit cracks and fissures within the rocks are carried there by the groundwater flowing through them.Subsurface bacteria do not just rely on nutrients trapped within the rock or carried there by groundwater.Some are chemotrophs,deriving their energy from the oxidation of iron or sulfur compounds and building organic material directly from the carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas dissolved in the rock.These bacteria excrete organic compounds that are then utilized by other types of bacteria These ecosystems based on chemotrophic bacteria are completely independent of material and solar energy from the surface

  1. Select the TWO answer choices that, according to paragraph 1, indicate what scientists believed before the 1980s about underground organisms. To receive credit,you must select TWO answers

  A. It was impossible for organisms to live beyond just a few meters underground

  B. Organisms were filtered into the soil from ocean sediments.

  C. Organisms that were supposedly found at great depths were actually from the surface layers

  D. Contamination from the surface layers of the soil was seriously affecting life underground.

  2. The word "pristine" in the passage is closest in meaning to

  A. Suitable

  B. Pure

  C. Precise

  D. solid

  3. According to paragraph 1, what is the purpose of using concentrated tracer material during drilling?

  A. To lubricate the drill

  B. To obtain uncontaminated rock samples

  C. To cut away the samples of rock

  D. To identify rock sample types

  4. The word "revealed" in the passage is closest in meaning to

  A. added to

  B. made known

  C. restricted

  D. replaced

  5. According to paragraph 1, what can be inferred about the new techniques for the identification of underground microorganisms?

  A. They depend on growing microorganisms in culture.

  B. They sometimes add contaminants to the sample.

  C. They involve DNA analysis

  D. They cannot demonstrate the presence of different types of microorganisms.

  6. Why does the author use the phrase "rather less usefully" in the passage?

  A. To question the usefulness of microorganism identification

  B. To identify two negative effects of pollution, the second one more dangerous than the first

  C. To compare the scientific usefulness of two theories

  D. To contrast a possible benefit of the existence of subsurface organisms with a potential danger

  7. according to paragraph 2, what is the greatest depth at which life has been found to this day?

  A. 500 meters below ground

  B. 35 kilometers below ground

  C. 4 kilometers below ground

  D. 7 kilometers beneath the seafloor

  8. The author asks "what do the bacteria feed on?" for the purpose of

  A. presenting a problem that scientists have not yet been able to solve

  B. expressing doubts about the theory that bacteria can live at great depths

  C. introducing the explanation that answers the question

  D. arguing against the idea that bacteria form part of a subterranean food chain

  9. The word " compacted" in the passage is closest in meaning to

  A. complicated

  B. strengthened

  C. absorbent

  D. compressed

  B. strengthened

  10. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 3 about the organisms in cracks and fissures in igneous rock?

  A. They produce the cracks and fissures in the rock

  B. They grow in the molten magma that forms the rock.

  C. They can survive changing temperatures

  D. They have not originated in the igneous rock

  11. The phrase" rely on" in the passage is closest in meaning to

  A. use up

  B. head for

  C. depend on

  D. pass on

  12. According to paragraph 3, why are chemotrophic bacteria important to their ecosystems?

  A. They compete with other microorganisms.

  B. They allow other bacteria to use organic compounds

  C. They do not depend on the iron or sulfur compounds that other microorganisms consume.

  D. They process material and solar energy for other underground organisms to use.

  13. Look at the four squares [ ] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

  However, it would be wrong to think that these factors make life at great depths impossible.

  Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square [] to add the sentence to the passage.

  [ Paragraph 2] The first scientists to use these techniques were involved in the Subsurface Science Program of the United States Department of Energy (DOE).They were interested in the possibility that if organisms existed in the depths of Earth,they might degrade organic pollutants and help maintain the purity of groundwater or,rather less usefully, degrade the containers in which the DOE was proposing to deposit the radioactive waste from nuclear facilities. They demonstrated the presence of many different types of microorganisms in rocks at depths down to 500 meters beneath the surface.[A] Pressure and temperature increase as you go deeper into Earth.[B] Some scientists think that subsurface bacteria could withstand temperatures as high as 150°C. [C] This would allow organisms to exist to depths of about 7 kilometers beneath the seafloor and to 4 kilometers below the surface of the land. [D] Although the organisms are often sparsely distributed, this is such an enormous volume that it has been estimated that the total biomass of deep subsurface organisms exceeds that of those living on, or just below, the surface.

  14. It is only recently that living organisms have been found below the top few meters of the soil or ocean sediments.

  Answer Choices

  A. It became necessary to develop techniques that would prevent the lubricating fluid

  on the drill from contaminating the samples recovered from the depths.

  B. Subsurface life is thought to live at greater depths and to resist higher temperatures than was once thought possible

  C. Rather than consuming other food available, chemotrophs process some minerals they find in rocks to obtain the nutrients they need

  D. The discovery of subsurface life was enabled by the development of sophisticated drilling and microorganism identification techniques.

  E. Scientists involved in the Subsurface Science Program found underground life accidentally while studying the effects of pollution on groundwater

  F. The food chain below the surface involves fungi, protozoa, bacteria, and the organic material and minerals in or derived from sedimentary and igneous rock.

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