The Dark Frontier
Unlocking the Secrets of the Deep Sea
Published on 7. April 2026
300 pages
978-0-571-36494-7 (ISBN)
Description
An awe-inspiring and panoramic investigation into the hidden world of the deep sea - a mysterious, unforgiving landscape whose secrets radically revise our understanding of life on earth.
The deep sea is one of humanity's last frontiers. For most of our history it has been a remote realm shrouded in obscurity. But here, where the light cannot reach, lies a strange, wonderful and breathtaking portal into Earth's past, teeming with scientific marvels and lessons for the future of life on this planet.
In The Dark Frontier, marine microbiologist and deep-sea explorer Jeffrey Marlow plunges us into the ocean's depths and invites us to witness close-up encounters with its hidden brilliance. Translucent shrimp dance through sulphureous vents, crabs stretch twelve feet from claw to claw and the eerie chalk-white towers of the 'Lost City' loom. Back on land, diplomats and conservationists negotiate the management of the vast open ocean, as human forces threaten ancient underwater ecosystems. Immersive and illuminating, Marlow's journeys heed warnings too: we are irrevocably changing the deep sea before we have even had a chance to understand it.
This expansive book offers crucial and surprising insights into the twinned forces of exploration and exploitation in the deep sea. It shows how life can thrive in even the most extreme conditions, and how new ways of engaging with the ocean's depths are revealing critical links between the deep sea and life on land. The Dark Frontier expands our understanding of biological possibilities - and our responsibilities - on Earth and beyond.
The deep sea is one of humanity's last frontiers. For most of our history it has been a remote realm shrouded in obscurity. But here, where the light cannot reach, lies a strange, wonderful and breathtaking portal into Earth's past, teeming with scientific marvels and lessons for the future of life on this planet.
In The Dark Frontier, marine microbiologist and deep-sea explorer Jeffrey Marlow plunges us into the ocean's depths and invites us to witness close-up encounters with its hidden brilliance. Translucent shrimp dance through sulphureous vents, crabs stretch twelve feet from claw to claw and the eerie chalk-white towers of the 'Lost City' loom. Back on land, diplomats and conservationists negotiate the management of the vast open ocean, as human forces threaten ancient underwater ecosystems. Immersive and illuminating, Marlow's journeys heed warnings too: we are irrevocably changing the deep sea before we have even had a chance to understand it.
This expansive book offers crucial and surprising insights into the twinned forces of exploration and exploitation in the deep sea. It shows how life can thrive in even the most extreme conditions, and how new ways of engaging with the ocean's depths are revealing critical links between the deep sea and life on land. The Dark Frontier expands our understanding of biological possibilities - and our responsibilities - on Earth and beyond.
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
File size
1,05 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-571-36494-7 (9780571364947)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jeffrey Marlow is a deep-sea explorer, published scholar, international science policy adviser, and experienced journalist. He studies the role that microorganisms play in deep-sea environments. Alongside this work, he has served on the science teams for three of NASA's robotic missions to Mars and studied extreme life forms in Mars and Ocean World analogue sites on Earth.
Marlow is Assistant Professor of Biology at Boston University, having completed an M.Phil. as a Marshall Scholar at Imperial College London, a PhD. at the California Institute of Technology, and postdoctoral work at Harvard University. He has also served as a representative of the scientific community at the United Nations, and is a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, a Fellow of the Explorers Club, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Marlow is Assistant Professor of Biology at Boston University, having completed an M.Phil. as a Marshall Scholar at Imperial College London, a PhD. at the California Institute of Technology, and postdoctoral work at Harvard University. He has also served as a representative of the scientific community at the United Nations, and is a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, a Fellow of the Explorers Club, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
