Methane in Oceans
around the Globe
Scientists have deduced that nearly one third of all the life on this planet is the multitude of microbes that live under the seafloor where there is absolutely no light or oxygen. These masses of microbes create enough methane gas that seepage to surface waters could result in huge tsunamis, inevitable global warming and even mass extinctions of many species.
Empirical data shows that as far below as a half a mile under the ocean floors there are thriving microbes in billions of numbers. At the deepest levels the microbes produce methane and then up a level in the food chain the ones in shallower sediments consume the gas. For all of these creatures oxygen is toxic. The microbes have existed since the very early Earth was enveloped in methane gas. Plants did not exist then; there was no oxygen for them.
By this century, the microbes have been moved around at random due to natural disasters – tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and tectonic plate movement. They are nested so far down into the sludge of billions of years oxygen is unable to penetrate. The Black Sea is an exception. It relies on the narrow Bosporus to bring in fresh ocean water but the strait is so small, the Black Sea does not benefit from sufficient amounts of replenishing ocean water. Deep in the waters of the Black Sea at about 600 feet there is no oxygen. It has been absent of oxygen for a long time. Fish do not inhabit these waters. This is the realm of microbes, living on methane gas that percolates up through the seabed. The methane is produced by microbe relatives buried deep below the seafloor and there are billions of them.
The actual numbers of microbes living beneath the seafloor has been estimated to represent about one third of all life forms on earth. The amount of methane made by these microbes is estimated to be greater in mass than of all known reserves of coal, gas, and oil. Methane is a toxic greenhouse gas and significant releases of microbial methane from deep water sources have been linked to faster than anticipated change in the global climate. Microbes did warm up the planet ending recent ice ages and they probably played a role in ending the Paleocene Epoch 55 million years ago when the planet suddenly heated up. Interestingly, the impacts of deep sea methane suddenly rising to the surface may have caused mass extinctions, movement of tectonic plates causing huge tsunamis capable of crossing oceans and to contribute to the unexplainable and sudden disappearance of ocean bound ships.
It may seem to be a stretch, blaming ocean floor muck on all these major disasters. Research now tells us that below the ocean floor life thrives with microbes producing massive amounts of methane. It’s a discovery that scientists will watch carefully as the real risk emerges.
