How hot is too hot for life deep below the ocean floor?

At what depth beneath the seabed does it become so hot that microbial life is no longer possible? This question is the focus of a close scientific cooperative effort between the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and MARUM—Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen. An expedition by the drilling program IODP (International Ocean Discovery Program) in 2016 has provided new insights into the temperature limits of life beneath the ocean floor. The findings have now been published by the international team in the professional journal Science.