Novel methane consuming microorganisms discovered at the Haakon Mosby Mud Volcano in the Arctic deep sea
Not lava, but muds and methane are emitted from the Arctic deep-water mud volcano Haakon Mosby. When it reaches the atmosphere, methane is an aggressive greenhouse gas, 25-times more potent than carbon dioxide. Fortunately, some specialised microorganisms feed on methane and thereby reduce emissions of this greenhouse gas. For the first time, a German-French research team showed which methane consuming microorganisms thrive in the ice-cold Arctic deep-sea. In an article in the journal Nature, the scientists also describe which environmental parameters control their activity - with a surprising result: High flow velocities of mud volcano water in the seafloor reduce the efficiency of the natural gas filter by 60%.

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`Irony` actually does mean `metal like`...