Response of cold seeps and gas hydrates to global warming

3 Response of cold seeps and gas hydrates to global warming 

Because huge quantities of methane are buried in the seafloor, mainly as gas hydrates, there are concerns about potential climate effects, especially because methane has a greater greenhouse effect than C02. The concentration of atmospheric methane is also presently increasing at a more rapid rate than that of C02 (IPCC, 2001). Therefore, the abundance, distribution (in space and time) and the stability of methane hydrates have important implications for future and past global climate changes. 

Global warming may lead to instability of gas hydrates, as a result of changes in pressure and temperature associated with global sea level rise and warming thus, a positive climate feedback mechanism may result (e.g. Kvenvolden, 

Considering that deep-sea environments are some of the least explored parts of our planet, we have gained a wealth of information about them in only a short time span. Research on deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and to a lesser extent on cold seeps, has matured over the last decade or so, as evidenced by the large number of extensive review papers in many related disciplines. Despite these advancements, many unanswered questions remain. There is now a strong need to move from a descriptive to a quantitative mode such studies on biogeochemical processes have been few in number. 

Future prospects for research on deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps are very promising. New technical approaches and exploration methods (e.g. autonomous vehicles like ABE Embley etal., 2002) will likely benefit this research. Molecular methods will help us to better understand the diversity and possibly the metabolisms of un-culturable environmental microorganisms. Long-term seafloor observatories like NeMO (Embley Baker, 1999) and NEPTUNE (Delaney etal., 2000) will allow us to more easily study episodic events like volcanic eruptions at ridges and massive methane releases from seeps. As well, these observatories will provide data in the form of long-term time 

---