Scientists discover giant crater from ice age explosion that has methane-spewing mud volcano inside

[Elderberry]

Space.com by Sascha Pare  5/29/2023

Scientists discover giant crater from ice age explosion that has methane-spewing mud volcano inside it

The Borealis Mud Volcano is only the second found in Norwegian waters and releases a continuous stream of methane-rich, muddy liquid from deep below Earth's crust.

Ocean explorers in the Arctic have discovered an underwater volcano spewing mud and methane from inside another, larger crater that probably formed after a catastrophic blowout at the end of the last ice age.

Researchers spotted the unusual feature on Earth about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Norway's Bear Island, or Bjørnøya, in the Barents Sea. The volcano, which the team named the Borealis Mud Volcano, is only the second of its kind discovered in Norwegian waters.

"Exploring the seabed and discovering new methane [seeps] is like finding hidden treasures," said Stefan Buenz, a professor at The Arctic University of Norway (University of Tromsø) and co-leader of the Advancing Knowledge of Methane in the Arctic (AKMA) expedition that made the discovery. "Every time we go down to the seabed, we get the feeling that we have just begun to understand the great and incredible diversity of such [seep] systems," Buenz said in a translated statement.

A submarine mud volcano is a geological structure formed by an expulsion of muddy fluid and gas, predominantly methane.

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The researchers found the volcano's flanks teeming with animal life feeding off carbonate crusts — mineral crusts formed when microorganisms consume methane and produce bicarbonate as a byproduct, according to a 2019 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health — that formed thousands of years ago. They spied sea anemones, sponges, corals, starfish, sea spiders and diverse crustaceans.

More: https://www.space.com/scientists-discover-giant-crater-ice-age-explosion-methane-mud-spewing-volcano-inside

[bigheadfred]

"Exploring the seabed and discovering new methane [seeps] is like finding hidden treasures," said Stefan Buenz

Not quite how I describe methane leaks around here.

[Hoodat]

Methane from volcanoes?  Wonder how so many dinosaurs made it that deep into the magma before dying and decomposing into oil and gas.

[Smokin Joe]

It's a mud volcano, not the same as the magma volcano.

I have long harbored a theory that methane hydrates reach a point when ocean levels drop during an ice age that the deposits release enough methane to act as a greenhouse gas and warm the planet up again, serving as a thermostat of sorts. In time, the methane oxidizes and the warming effect is thus limited, keeping the planet from overheating. In the meantime, the ice sheets melt, the oceans re-fill, and conditions are favorable for forming methane hydrates again.