Earthquakes fuel hidden life in Earth’s deep crust, study reveals

A recent study by researchers at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry reveals that earthquakes act as natural batteries, powering microbial life deep within Earth's crust. By simulating crustal faulting in the lab using quartz, the team demonstrated that rock fractures caused by seismic activity split water molecules, producing reactive free radicals. These radicals subsequently form hydrogen gas and oxidants like hydrogen peroxide, creating a sustained energy source for subsurface microbes. This challenges the traditional view that sunlight is the ultimate energy source for all life and expands understanding of life’s potential habitats. The study highlights how earthquake-driven chemical reactions generate a redox gradient that drives iron cycling between ferrous and ferric states, which in turn influences the geochemistry of other vital elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. This continuous electron flow forms an “underground power grid” that sustains unique microbial ecosystems in the deep biosphere. Remarkably, hydrogen production from faulting was found to be up to 100,000 times greater than other known sources