The missing Titanic submersible has likely used its 96 hours of oxygen, making chances of rescue even bleaker

According to estimates, the five people on the Titan submersible have finally run out of oxygen.

It's impossible to say with certainty when their oxygen would run out.

If oxygen does run out, forensic experts explained what could happen to their bodies if found in an intact vessel.

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The missing Titan submersible with five people on board has likely run out of oxygen, making any prospect of a rescue even slimmer.

The submersible went missing on Sunday during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

On Monday, the US Coast Guard estimated that there was 70 to 96 hours of breathable air on the sub when it took off.

The Titan initiated its dive at around 7 a.m. ET on Sunday, so 96 hours later would be around 7 a.m. ET on Thursday.

96 hours is an estimate. As Insider's Amber Middleton reported earlier this week, the rate of consumption can vary significantly based on factors like how active the crew are and the temperature on board.

As of Thursday morning, rescuers had given no indication they knew where the submersible was. As such, it is impossible to say whether the oxygen supply would even be relevant.

By Thursday afternoon, the US Coast Guard announced that a "debris field" has been found in the depths of the North Atlantic by an underwater robot that was searching near the shipwreck.

"Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information," the agency said in a tweet.

A "catastrophic failure" could have killed everyone on board already, an expert told Insider. He said this could have come about from a power failure or the hull being breached, which would have brought about a "catastrophic implosion."

The US Coast Guard told Insider that it will keep looking for the submersible through Thursday. A press conference has been put on hold and is not expected to take place today, the spokesperson added.

What happens to the human body in an enclosed vessel?

There is no research and little precedent for bodies being found in a highly pressurized and intact vessel, forensics experts told Insider.

The two big drivers of decomposition are temperature and oxygen, Melissa Connors, a director for the Forensic Investigation Research Station at Colorado Mesa University, told Insider. In general, the higher the temperature, the faster the body will decompose, and without oxygen, bacteria can't thrive, she said.

"Generally in an environment without oxygen, remains will not decompose much because the micro and macro organisms that would work to consume and decompose the tissues will be unable to survive," Nicholas Passalacqua, a director of Forensic Anthropology at Western Carolina University, said in an email to Insider.

In cold temperatures and without oxygen for bacteria, the body dries out through a process known as sublimation during which water goes from a solid state to a gaseous state, Connors said.

"So you might end up with mummies," she said.

There are other variables to consider, including anaerobes, a type of bacteria that does not require oxygen to survive and could contribute to decomposition, Daniel Wescott, director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University, told Insider.