Methane Seeps | Living Fossils of the Atacama Trench (ENGLISH)

Searching for tiny bubbles of methane percolating from the seafloor in the deep Ocean takes a dedicated team of scientists and engineers, a robotic guide, and a healthy dose of patience and persistence. During the #AtacamaTrenchAncients expedition, an international team of scientists searched for and found the deepest methane seep documented off the coast of Chile. Deep sea environments lack sunlight to drive photosynthesis, and many organisms rely on chemosynthesis, where microbes and other organisms generate energy for survival from reactions involving inorganic chemicals, such as methane. A better understanding of these processes could unlock answers to the origins of life on Earth and elsewhere on other worlds.

[@robertspies4695]

That white materia around the methane seeps is a bacteria Beggiatoa. We found the same white bacterial mat around shallow water seeps in southern California. As sulfide oxidizers they pay a role in the biogeochemistry that sees methane being oxidized, sulfate being reduced to hydrogen sulfide and consumed by multicellular organisms. These shallow water systems use both plant-derived and fossil carbon energy sources.

[@jamesdriscoll_tmp1515]

These live streams were really good. The science team was amazing.
I can't wait for the next!

[@Nik7355]

Amazing ❤❤❤

[@TremendoJP]

❤❤❤

[@zapfanzapfan]

What's that thing sort of taking swim strokes?

[@5161estel]

That was my Mother In-law.

[@Norwyn]

I think it is some kind of amphipod. But I would also like to know the species.