Microbes are siphoning massive amounts of carbon from Earth’s tectonic plates

A few kilometers below our feet lies a hidden world of microbes whose chemical reactions are shaping the long-term habitability of the planet. A new study suggests some of these microbes are siphoning off massive amounts of carbon as it enters Earth, using it to fuel their own sunless ecosystems. Jennifer Glass, biogeochemist and associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, was not involved in the study, but calls it "a really big leap forward." Glass adds that this is one of the first papers to show how subterranean microbes can trap globally significant amounts of carbon.