A Canadian graduate student has found heat-loving bacteria living in an unlikely place — in Arctic Ocean sediments off the Norwegian coast.

Casey Hubert, who completed his doctorate in petroleum biology at the University of Calgary, says the bacteria may have originated from hot spots under the sea floor, which could point to undiscovered reservoirs of offshore oil.

"The genetic similarities to bacteria from hot offshore oil reservoirs are striking," Hubert said in a release.

The bacteria were found in the Arctic as spores, a dormant state the bacteria enter when they're subjected to harsh conditions. The spores were thermophilic, or heat-loving, and revived in the lab when incubated at 40 C to 60 C.

The fact they were found in Arctic Ocean sediments means they were transported from a deeper, hotter environment under the sea floor.

Also, the bacteria are anaerobic — meaning they don't require oxygen to live — so they would have originated in an oxygen-free habitat. One such habitat could be a pressurized oil reservoir deep under the surface that is leaking oil or other hydrocarbons up into the seawater.

"We expect ongoing surveys will pinpoint the source, or sources, of these misplaced microbes. This could have interesting applications if they are really coming up from leaky petroleum reservoirs," said Hubert.

Another possibility is that the bacteria come from a "black smoker" or hydrothermal vent, a crack in the ocean crust where superheated water bursts out into the ocean.

Beyond the application in tracking down offshore oil, the bacteria could provide a better understanding of marine ecosystems, where dormant bacteria contribute to biodiversity.

"The Arctic thermophiles could hold important clues for solving broader riddles of bio-geography," said Hubert, who did his work at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany.

The research appeared this week in the journal Science.