Bizarre tunnels discovered under Africa leave scientists baffled

The origins of tunnels discovered below Africa and the Middle East have baffled scientists.

Beneath the ancient rock, deep within marble and limestone, mysterious tunnels have been uncovered. Researchers from Germany’s Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz were shocked upon finding the tiny tunnels in Namibia, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

Experts believe the small tunnels appear to have been made by something alive, possibly a microbial life form that uses marble and limestone as its habitat.

“We were surprised,” explained professor Cees Passchier from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, who found the tunnels 15 years ago in Namibia, ”because these tubes are clearly not the result of a geological process.”

The tiny parallel tunnels can be seen in this rock from NamibiaCees Passchier

But questions remain surrounding the origin of these tunnels, and if the organism believed to be the reason for their creation still exists. Passchier and his colleagues describe the unusual properties of the tubes in a new paper published in the Geomicrobiology Journal. Known as micro-burrows, the tunnels are generally about an inch long and measure about half a millimetre wide.

Erosion has exposed clusters of tiny tunnels carved into rocks, which scientists like Passchier have studied for years. Upon analysis, these tubes were found to contain a fine calcium carbonate powder, possibly remnants from microorganisms that moved through the marble to extract its nutrients.

But the story is far from over. Although the current hypothesis is that some kind of living creature made these tiny tubes in desert marble, researchers are still trying to work out what kind of organism it might have been and if it’s still around today.

The structures are believed to be about one or two million years old. No DNA or proteins were left behind by the creatures of unknown origin and without more biological evidence, scientists won’t be able to determine the type of creature that made them.

Scientists are still baffled about the creature that made the tunnelsCees Passchier

“We don’t currently know whether this is a life form that has become extinct," Passchier explained per SciTechDaily, "or is still alive somewhere."

The experts have a hunch that the organism must be something that can survive without light because the tubes formed deep inside the rock.

Passchier hopes the new findings will encourage specialists on endolithic organisms, those that are able to acquire resources in the inner parts of rocks, corals, minerals, animal shells, or pores between mineral grains of rocks, to dig deeper into the phenomenon.

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