An extreme environment is a habitat that is considered very hard to survive in due to its considerably extreme conditions such as temperature, accessibility to different energy sources or under high pressure. For an area to be considered an extreme environment, it must contain certain conditions and aspects that are considered very hard for other life forms to survive. Pressure conditions may be extremely high or low; high or low content of oxygen or carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; high levels of radiation, acidity, or alkalinity; absence of water; water containing a high concentration of salt; the presence of sulphur, petroleum, and other toxic substances. Examples of extreme environments include the

geographical pole A geographical pole or geographic pole is either of the two points on Earth where its axis of rotation intersects its surface. The North Pole lies in the Arctic Ocean while the South Pole is in Antarctica. North and South poles are also defined ...

s, very arid

deserts A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the l ...

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

es, deep

ocean trench Oceanic trenches are prominent, long, narrow topographic depressions of the ocean floor. They are typically wide and below the level of the surrounding oceanic floor, but can be thousands of kilometers in length. There are about of oceanic t ...

es,

upper atmosphere Upper atmosphere is a collective term that refers to various layers of the atmosphere of the Earth above the troposphere and corresponding regions of the atmospheres of other planets, and includes: * The mesosphere, which on Earth lies between th ...

, outer space, and the environments of every

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

except the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. Any organisms living in these conditions are often very well adapted to their living circumstances, which is usually a result of long-term evolution. Physiologists have long known that organisms living in extreme environments are especially likely to exhibit clear examples of evolutionary adaptation because of the presumably intense past natural selection they have experienced.

On Earth

The distribution of extreme environments on

has varied through

geological time The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochronolo ...

. Humans generally do not inhabit extreme environments. There are organisms referred to as

extremophile An extremophile () is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments, i.e., environments with conditions approaching or stretching the limits of what known life can adapt to, such as extreme temperature, press ...

s that do live in such conditions and are so well-adapted that they readily grow and multiply. Extreme environments are usually hard to survive in.

Beyond Earth

Most of the moons and planets in the

are also extreme environments. Astrobiologists have not yet found life in any environments beyond Earth, though experiments have shown that

tardigrades Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged Segmentation (biology), segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who calle ...

can survive the harsh vacuum and intense radiation of outer space. The conceptual modification of conditions in locations beyond Earth, to make them more habitable by humans and other terrestrial organisms, is known as

terraforming Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to mak ...

Types

Among extreme environments are places that are

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The ...

acidic An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the ...

, or unusually hot or cold or salty, or without water or oxygen. There are also places altered by humans, such as mine

tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...

or oil impacted habitats. * Alkaline: broadly conceived as natural

habitats In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

above pH 9 whether persistently, or with regular frequency or for protracted periods of time. * Acidic: broadly conceived as natural habitats below pH 5 whether persistently, or with regular frequency or for protracted periods of time. * Extremely cold: broadly conceived habitats periodically or consistently below -17 °C either persistently, or with regular frequency or for protracted periods of time. Includes montane sites, polar sites, and deep ocean habitats. * Extremely hot: broadly conceived habitats periodically or consistently in excess of 40 °C either persistently, or with regular frequency or for protracted periods of time. Includes sites with geothermal influences such as Yellowstone and comparable locations worldwide or deep-sea vents. * Hypersaline: environments with salt concentrations greater than that of seawater, that is, >3.5%. Includes salt lakes. * Under pressure: broadly conceived as habitats under extreme hydrostatic pressure – i.e. aquatic habitats deeper than 2000 meters and enclosed habitats under pressure. Includes habitats in oceans and deep lakes. * Radiation: broadly conceived as habitats exposed to abnormally high

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

or of radiation outside the normal range of light. Includes habitats exposed to high UV and IR radiation. * Without water: broadly conceived as habitats without free water whether persistently, or with regular frequency or for protracted periods of time. Includes hot and cold desert environments, and some endolithic habitats * Without oxygen: broadly conceived as habitats without free oxygen – whether persistently, or with regular frequency, or for protracted periods of time. Includes habitats in deeper sediments. * Altered by humans: i.e. anthropogenically impacted habitats. Includes mine tailings, oil impacted habitats, and pollution by heavy metals or

organic compound Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-co ...

s. * Without light: deep ocean environments and habitats such as caves. * Void of food: areas on earth that lack an abundance of food such as the vast ocean, desert and high country. * Extreme pressure: deep ocean areas

Extreme habitats

Many different habitats can be considered extreme environments, such as the polar ice caps, the driest spots in deserts, and abysmal depths in the ocean. Many different places on the Earth demand that species become highly specialized if they are to survive. In particular, microscopic organisms that can't be seen with the naked eye often thrive in surprising places.

Polar regions

Owing to the dangerously low temperatures, the number of species that can survive in these remote areas is very slim. Over years of evolution and adaptation to this extremely cold environment, both microscopic and larger species have survived and thrived no matter what conditions they have faced. By changing their eating patterns and due to their dense pelt or their body fat, only a few species have been capable of adapting to such harsh conditions and have learned how to thrive in these cold environments.

Deserts

A desert is known for its extreme temperatures and extremely dry climate. The type of species that live in this area have adapted to these harsh conditions over years and years. Species that are able to store water and have learned how to protect themselves from the Sun's harsh rays are the only ones that are capable of surviving in these extreme environments.

Oceans

The oceans depths and temperatures contains some of the most extreme conditions for any species to survive. The deeper one travels, the higher the pressure and the lower the visibility gets, causing completely blacked out conditions. Many of these conditions are too intense for humans to travel to, so instead of sending humans down to these depths to collect research, scientists are using smaller submarines or deep sea drones to study these creatures and extreme environments.

Types of species in extreme environments

There are many different species that are either commonly known or not known amongst many people. These species have either adapted over time into these extreme environments or they have resided their entire life no matter how many generations. The different species are able to live in these environments because of their flexibility with adaptation. Many can adapt to different climate conditions and hibernate, if need be, to survive. The following list contains only a few species that live in extreme environments. ; Examples * Giant kangaroo rat * Certain species of frogs * Thermotolerant worms ( Alvinella pompejana) * Devil worms, Halicephalobus mephisto * Greenland shark *

Marine microorganism Marine microorganisms are defined by their habitat as microorganisms living in a marine habitat, marine environment, that is, in the saline water, saltwater of a sea or ocean or the brackish water of a coastal estuary. A microorganism (or mic ...

Bdelloidea Bdelloidea (from Greek language, Greek βδέλλα, ''bdella'' 'leech') is a Class (biology), class of rotifers found in freshwater habitats all over the world. There are over 450 described species of bdelloid rotifers (or 'bdelloids'), disti ...

Tardigrade Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them . In 1776, th ...

(waterbear) * Himalayan jumping spider, Euophrys omnisuperstes *

Cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...

Extreme environment examples

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

Mammoth Hot Springs Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the ...

Mariana Trench The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deep sea, deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maxi ...

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a Salt lake, saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes Hypersaline lake, high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake ...

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

Picture gallery

File:Everest kalapatthar crop.jpg,

File:Libya 5230 Wan Caza Dunes Luca Galuzzi 2007.jpg,

Desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

File:Top of Atmosphere.jpg,

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

and

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

File:MtCleveland ISS013-E-24184.jpg,

Volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

File:Blacksmoker in Atlantic Ocean.jpg,

Hydrothermal vent Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hot ...

File:DeadSeaIsrael.jpg, High salinity of the

References

"Extreme Environment." Microbial Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013.
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