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<p>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 including siboglinid and maldanid tubeworms, skeneid and rissoid snails, and melitid amphipods. Family-level composition of the fauna is similar to that of Arctic hydrothermal vents at similar depths, including the Jøtul vent field on the Knipovich Ridge, and less similar to nearby methane seeps at shallower depths. The overlap between seep and vent fauna in the Arctic has implications for understanding ecological connectivity across deep-sea habitats and assessing their vulnerability to future impacts from seafloor resource extraction in the region.</p>

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

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月17日

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  • Giuliana Panieri,
  • Jonathan T. Copley,
  • Katrin Linse,
  • Verity Nye,
  • Eva Ramirez-Llodra,
  • Claudio Argentino,
  • Bénédicte Ferré,
  • Alejandra Saenz de Tejada,
  • Alex David Rogers,
  • Alfredo Rosales Ruiz,
  • Asgeir Steinsland,
  • Carlotta Redaelli,
  • Clarisse Goar,
  • Daniel Despujois,
  • Ewan McEvoy,
  • Fereshteh Hemmateenejad,
  • Giuliana Panieri,
  • Ida Søhol,
  • Ines Barranchea Angeles,
  • Jack Hogan,
  • Jessica Michelle Webster,
  • Joe Sharman,
  • Laura Warmuth,
  • Lawrence Hislop,
  • Leif Johan Ohnstad,
  • Leighton Rolley,
  • Martin Hartley,
  • Nuria Rico Seijo,
  • Pamela Rivadeneira,
  • Patricia Esquete Garrote,
  • Patrick Vågenes,
  • Pedro Furtado Costa Rodrigues,
  • Raissa Hogan,
  • Stig Vågenes,
  • Tor-Arve Lunde,
  • Usha Parameswaran,
  • Verity Nye,
  • Will West,
  • Alex D. Rogers

摘要

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 including siboglinid and maldanid tubeworms, skeneid and rissoid snails, and melitid amphipods. Family-level composition of the fauna is similar to that of Arctic hydrothermal vents at similar depths, including the Jøtul vent field on the Knipovich Ridge, and less similar to nearby methane seeps at shallower depths. The overlap between seep and vent fauna in the Arctic has implications for understanding ecological connectivity across deep-sea habitats and assessing their vulnerability to future impacts from seafloor resource extraction in the region.