The deep sea, the largest biome on Earth, has a series of characteristics that make this
environment both distinct from other marine and land ecosystems and unique for the entire …

Measurements of dissolved methane in the ocean have been available for only about 50
years. Methane measurements in sediments, where concentrations are millimolar, were first …

Characteristics of cold seeps at different geologic settings are the subject of this review
primarily based on results of the Research Consortium SFB 574. Criteria are drawn from …

Cold seeps occur in geologically active and passive continental margins, where pore waters
enriched in methane are forced upward through the sediments by pressure gradients. The …

The hydrosulphide ion (HS−) and its undissociated form, hydrogen sulphide (H2S), which
are believed to have been critical to the origin of life on Earth, remain important in …

Microbial sulfate reduction is largely associated with anaerobic methane oxidation and
alkane degradation in sulfate–methane transition zone (SMTZ) of deep‐sea cold seeps …

Bacteria and marine eukaryotes often coexist in symbioses that significantly influence the
ecology, physiology and evolution of both partners. De Bary (1879) defined symbiosis as …

Chemosynthetic endosymbioses occur ubiquitously at oxic–anoxic interfaces in marine
environments. In these mutualisms, bacteria living directly within the cell of a eukaryotic host …

Habitat formation by foundation species is a major ecological force affecting community
structure in numerous systems. On the upper continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico, the cold …

Shortly after the discovery of chemosynthetic ecosystems at deep-sea hydrothermal vents,
similar ecosystems were found at cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the past two …