anaerobic
an-uh-RO-bik
Definition
Relating to or requiring an absence of free oxygen, specifically referring to microorganisms that can survive or thrive in an environment without oxygen.
Etymology
Derived from the Greek 'an-' (without) + 'aer' (air) + 'bios' (life). It was coined in the 19th century to describe organisms that exist without air.
In the news
The article uses the term to describe the types of microbes that survive in the Black Sea's deep, oxygen-free waters, contrasting them with the aerobic organisms that typically decompose organic matter.
At the bottom of the Black Sea, below about 150 metres, the water contains no oxygen at all, and shipwrecks preserved in that dead zone include a 2,400-year-old Greek merchant vessel found in 2018 with its mast, rudder and rowing benches still intact on the
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com