chemosynthetic
KEE-mo-sin-THEH-tik
Definition
Relating to the biological process of synthesizing organic compounds using energy derived from chemical reactions, rather than from sunlight.
Etymology
Derived from the Greek 'khemeia' (alchemy or chemistry) and 'sunthesis' (placing together or composition), the word describes an organism that produces food through chemical energy.
In the news
The article uses the term to describe deep-sea ecosystems that rely on chemicals like methane and hydrogen sulfide seeping from the seafloor, since sunlight does not reach those depths.
We assume the deepest parts of the ocean are dark and empty, but the walls of the Mariana Trench hold snailfish drifting five miles down under pressure equivalent to a car pressing on every square centimetre of skin, their bones half-dissolved into cartilage so
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com