Unique oil-eating bacteria found in world's deepest ocean trench

Scientists have discovered a unique oil eating bacteria in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth's oceans, a finding that may pave way for sustainable ways to clean up oils spills.

The Mariana Trench is located in the Western Pacific Ocean and reaches a depth of approximately 11,000 metres. By comparison, Mount Everest is 8,848 metres high.

"We know more about Mars than the deepest part of the ocean," said Xiao-Hua Zhang of the Ocean University in China, who led the study.

To date, only a few expeditions have investigated the organisms inhabiting this ecosystem.

One of these expeditions was organised and led by noted marine explorer and Academy Award-winning film director James Cameron, who built a specialised submersible to collect samples in the trench.

"Our research team went down to collect samples of the microbial population at the deepest part of the Mariana Trench -- some 11,000 metres down. We studied the samples that were brought back and identified a new group of