# What environments on Earth contain liquid water, but are devoid of life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250 "2015-04-22T02:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/21 "2015-04-22T22:26:57Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I know I risk the inevitable once in 1960 joke by posting this, but they found life in the Mariana Trench. Yes, I get that there is life at the bottom. What I am asking is about the cold, dark open water above the bottom, and below where sunlight can penetrate. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/22 "2015-04-22T23:06:50Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Chlorinated swimming pools(\*) . . . ( \* ETA: Meaning, when no carbon-based life forms are actually, y’know, swimming in them.) Are humans not a carbon-based life form? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/23 "2015-04-23T00:42:04Z")
Maybe [Lake Vostok](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Vostok). We suspect there is life there but the water would have to be collected under very sterile conditions to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/24 "2015-04-23T06:09:05Z")
Well Water depending on the aquifer is a rather poor environment for bacteria. Drilled wells by design minimize the ability for coli form bacteria to survive. In pretty much any sample you will find low levels of non-coli form however. After bleaching a well it can take a significant amout of time before any level of bacteria can be found again. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/25 "2015-04-23T11:35:12Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > How about the middle of the open ocean - 10K feet down? Sure, there is going to be life at the surface where there is sunlight, and at the bottom where there is a more firm environment (even without sunlight). I am thinking in the zone where there is no sun, and no terra firma - just open water - any life that is there is likely there only to pass thru, no? (I am seriously ignorant on this one so please be gentle). You’re right there’s not much there. There is a slow, steady, and very diffuse “snowfall” of food from the sunlit surface layer that eventually settles on the bottom. On the way down some of it gets consumed by the sparse life that lives in the middle waters. This depth range is properly called the “pelagic zone” and this [Pelagic zone - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagic_zone) will fill in the details for you. You’re specifically asking about the so-called bathypelagic and abbysopelagic zones. Which have their own articles as well. ---
**Author:** ![RiCu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@RiCu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiCu)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/26 "2015-04-23T12:00:40Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > To quote Dr. Alan Grant, “Life finds a way”. But only after Dr Ian Malcolm said it first. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/27 "2015-04-23T13:02:16Z")
Okay, this is weird and unexpected. Not exactly what the OP had in mind, but related, certainly. Coconut water is apparently _sterile_, according to several sites. Not even micro-organisms, unless the nut itself is damaged. It was used as intravenous hydration fluid in Cambodia during the time of the Khmer Rouge. > **[Coconut water](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_water)** > > Coconut water (also coconut juice) is the clear liquid inside coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm). In early development, it serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during the nuclear phase of development. As growth continues, the endosperm matures into its cellular phase and deposits into the rind of the coconut pulp. The liquid inside young coconuts is often preferred to the liquid of a ripened coconut. Coconut water from young green coconuts is also known specifically as bu ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/28 "2015-04-23T13:26:03Z")
Well, that _is_ weird and unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/29 "2015-04-23T18:39:23Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Yes, I get that there is life at the bottom. What I am asking is about the cold, dark open water above the bottom, and below where sunlight can penetrate. very little but yes, plenty of microorganisms, and various larger critters passing through. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/30 "2015-04-23T23:44:58Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Okay, this is weird and unexpected. Not exactly what the OP had in mind, but related, certainly. > Coconut water is apparently _sterile_, according to several sites. Not even micro-organisms, unless the nut itself is damaged. It was used as intravenous hydration fluid in Cambodia during the time of the Khmer Rouge. > > [Coconut water - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_water) If we are allowed to include fluids already \*within \*organisms then the list of sterile fluids is endless. Urine is sterile. Nectar in unopened flowers is sterile. The juice of any fruit, not just coconuts, is sterile. Egg white is sterile. The humour in the eye is sterile. If this is what the OP wanted then the list will run into the billions. It’s quite hard to find an internal fluid in a healthy organism that _isn’t_ sterile. Of course some pathogens will occasionally find their way into these fluids, just as some will occasionally find their way into coconut milk. But generally the fluids are sterile. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/31 "2015-04-24T11:40:08Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > If we are allowed to include fluids already \*within \*organisms then the list of sterile fluids is endless. > Urine is sterile. > Nectar in unopened flowers is sterile. The juice of any fruit, not just coconuts, is sterile. > Egg white is sterile. > The humour in the eye is sterile. > > If this is what the OP wanted then the list will run into the billions. It’s quite hard to find an internal fluid in a healthy organism that _isn’t_ sterile. Of course some pathogens will occasionally find their way into these fluids, just as some will occasionally find their way into coconut milk. But generally the fluids are sterile. Really? My blood may be sterile in that it contains very few parasites or bacteria from the outside, but that’s largely because my bloodstream is filled with my own leukocytes sweeping al that stuff away, not to mention lots of red blood cells carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from the lungs. It may be “sterile”, but it’s not “Devoid of life”, as the OP asks. By contrast, the use of coconut water as a hydrating liquid suggests it is devoid of life. Turns out urine isn’t sterile, either: > **[No, Urine Is Not Sterile](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/urine-not-sterile_n_5378925)** > > No, Urine Is Not Sterile > **[Study debunks common myth that urine is sterile](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120409164156.htm)** > > Researchers have determined that bacteria are present in the bladders of some healthy women, which discredits the common belief that normal urine is sterile. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/32 "2015-04-24T12:22:36Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Yes, I get that there is life at the bottom. What I am asking is about the cold, dark open water above the bottom, and below where sunlight can penetrate. planktonic life exists throughout the water column. 10,000 ft down certainly is no barrier to life. There won’t be much, but there will be some. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250/33 "2015-04-24T12:28:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Really? My blood may be sterile in that it contains very few parasites or bacteria from the outside, but that’s largely because my bloodstream is filled with my own leukocytes sweeping al that stuff away, not to mention lots of red blood cells carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from the lungs. It may be “sterile”, but it’s not “Devoid of life”, as the OP asks. By contrast, the use of coconut water as a hydrating liquid suggests it is devoid of life. > Turns out urine isn’t sterile, either: > > [No, Urine Is Not Sterile | HuffPost Life](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/23/urine-not-sterile_n_5378925.html) > > [Study debunks common myth that urine is sterile | ScienceDaily](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120409164156.htm) I was just going to repeat what my urologist told me-urine is sterile. Apparently not. And I strongly suspect that coconut milk will suffer the same fate if it is carefully studied. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-environments-on-earth-contain-liquid-water-but-are-devoid-of-life/718250.md?page=1)