'Waterfall' of microbes in Antarctic sea floor leads to discovery of methane leak
JULY 22, 2020 / 5:34 PM / UPDATED 7 HOURS AGO
Cassandra Garrison
4 MIN READ
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered an active methane seep from Antarctica’s sea bed that could shed light on the potent greenhouse gas trapped beneath frozen continent.
Marine ecologist Andrew Thurber first glimpsed what a colleague described as a “microbial waterfall” during a dive in the icy waters of the Ross Sea in 2012. What looked like a superhighway of white patches on the ocean floor were clusters of tiny organisms drawn to the methane leak.
“My first thought was ‘wow,’ and I was immediately enamored with what this means for science,” said Thurber, an assistant professor at Oregon State University.
Scientists believe there is a massive amount of methane stored below the ocean floor in Antarctica. The discovery, published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, marks the first time a natural seep has ever been detected in the continent.
More:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-climate-change-antarctica-methane/waterfall-of-microbes-in-antarctic-sea-floor-leads-to-discovery-of-methane-leak-idUKKCN24N31O
