Live on Devon Island

Microbes at Haughton.

Asteroid and comet impacts kill dinosaurs, potential flatten cities and certainly make large, unforgiving holes in the surface of Mars. So you might be wondering what good could they possibly do for life? Here at Haughton we have been studying the way in which microbes can colonize the rocks that were shocked by the collision of the asteroid or comet with this region of the arctic 23 million years ago.

After being hit by an asteroid or comet, the "shocked" rocks are made much more porous and translucent than the ones not affected by the impact. Within these pumice-like rocks microbes can make a home. Photosynthetic microbes that use sunlight to grow can live near the surface of the rock, where there is just enough light for them to grow. Deep within the rock, where there is no light, microbes that eat organics can live in the cracks and fractures caused by the impact. And so here we have an example of how life can gain an advantage from the devastation caused by an impact. From destruction have come new homes for microbes to colonize the Earth.

This year, as in previous years, I have continued my survey of these rocks, collecting them to study how the microbes manage to make a living inside them and what sort of microbes grow there. Driving out across the crater I am looking for outcrops of rocks that 23 million years ago were subjected to the extreme temperatures and pressures necessary to make them new homes for these remarkable microbes.

Charles Cockell
Author, Impossible Extinction