Deep-sea gas hydrate mounds and chemosynthetic fauna discovered at 3640 m on the Molloy Ridge, Greenland Sea.

ABSTRACT: Methane seepage at the seafloor can form gas hydrate and sustain chemosynthetic communities of deep-sea animals. Most known hydrate seeps occur shallower than 2000 m on continental slopes, whereas hydrothermal vents are found at greater depths along active spreading centres. Here we report the discovery of hydrate mounds with cold-seep fauna at 3640 m deep on the Molloy Ridge. The mounds display seafloor morphologies resulting from progressive stages of hydrate dissociation. Gas bubbles from the mounds rise to within 300 m of the ocean surface, and isotopic analysis shows the hydrates contain thermogenic gas. Crude oil sampled from the hydrate deposits indicates a young Miocene source rock formed in a fresh-brackish water paleo-environment. The hydrate mounds are inhabited by taxa includin

SUBMITTER: Panieri G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12722328 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature