World’s deepest methane mounds found at 11,942 feet in Greenland Sea

A multinational team of scientists has discovered the world’s deepest methane-seeping hydrate mounds, named the Freya Hydrate Mounds, located 11,942 feet (3,640 meters) deep on the Molloy Ridge in the Greenland Sea. This finding, made during the Ocean Census Arctic Deep – EXTREME24 expedition, extends the known depth limit for gas hydrate outcrops by nearly 5,905 feet (1,800 meters). The mounds represent a dynamic geological system where methane ice (gas hydrates) forms and collapses continuously, creating a unique "living" habitat that supports specialized life forms such as tubeworms, maldanid worms, and snails. These organisms rely on chemosynthesis, using symbiotic bacteria to convert toxic chemicals into energy, enabling survival in the sunless deep sea. The discovery challenges previous assumptions about the stability and formation of gas hydrates, showing they can exist in much deeper and more extreme environments than thought. The