Early results of a probe into the deepest part of the ocean reveal that ocean trenches are acting as carbon sinks, according to BBC report.

An international team of scientists used a submersible to probe the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean.

Their finding suggests that ocean trenches play a larger role in regulating the Earth’s chemistry and climate than was thought.

The study was also the first time humans have been back to Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the 10,900-meter-deep underwater canyon since 1960, when the first two explorers reached it.