Carbonate-hosted microbial communities are prolific and pervasive methane oxidizers at geologically diverse marine methane seep sites.

ABSTRACT: At marine methane seeps, vast quantities of methane move through the shallow subseafloor, where it is largely consumed by microbial communities. This process plays an important role in global methane dynamics, but we have yet to identify all of the methane sinks in the deep sea. Here, we conducted a continental-scale survey of seven geologically diverse seafloor seeps and found that carbonate rocks from all sites host methane-oxidizing microbial communities with substantial methanotrophic potential. In laboratory-based mesocosm incubations, chimney-like carbonates from the newly described Point Dume seep off the coast of Southern California exhibited the highest rates of anaerobic methane oxidation measured to date. After a thorough analysis of physicochemical, electrical, and biological f

SUBMITTER: Marlow JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8237665 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature