Methane is the most abundant hydrocarbon in the atmosphere, and it is an important
greenhouse gas, which has so far contributed an estimated 20% of postindustrial global …

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 …

A large fraction of globally produced methane is converted to CO2 by anaerobic oxidation in
marine sediments. Strong geochemical evidence for net methane consumption in anoxic …

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 …

Life evolved and flourished in the absence of molecular oxygen (02). As the 02 content of
the atmosphere rose to the present level of 21% beginning about two billion years ago …

The oldest known seep deposits with macroinvertebrate taxa are Devonian in age. Although
more and more examples continue to be discovered, the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic record of …

Saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons are wide-spread in our environment. These
compounds exhibit low chemical reactivity and for many decades were thought to undergo …

Massive microbial mats covering up to 4-meter-high carbonate buildups prosper at methane
seeps in anoxic waters of the northwestern Black Sea shelf. Strong 13C depletions indicate …

Hydrocarbon seeps and hydrothermal vents are now known to be common at continental
margins and oceanic spreading centers worldwide, exuding fluids rich in CH4 and H2S, and …

In this study we investigated by using 16S rRNA-based methods the distribution and
biomass of archaea in samples from (i) sediments above outcropping methane hydrate at …