![\"Freya](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/freya-hydrate-mound-map-1280x767.jpg\")
A map showing the location of the newly discovered gas hydrate cold seep. \u00a9 Panieri et al., 2025. <\/p>\nBeneath cold, high-pressure oceans, water and gas molecules clump together into crystalline solids called gas hydrates. During a research cruise around the North Pole, scientists encountered the deepest gas hydrate ever found\u2014an elusive crack on the seafloor hosting a myriad of scientific treasures.<\/p>\n
The Freya Hydrate Mounds lie under Molloy Ridge near Greenland and were discovered in May 2024. Located at a depth of nearly 12,000 feet (3,640 meters), the mounds are the deepest vents of their kind ever discovered. What\u2019s more, the team spotted a staggering 10,000-foot-tall (3,300-meter) methane gas flare rising through the water column, another record-setting observation.<\/p>\n
A map showing the location of the newly discovered gas hydrate cold seep. \u00a9 Panieri et al., 2025. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe found an ultra-deep system that is both geologically dynamic and biologically rich,\u201d Giuliana Panieri, study lead author and a geoscientist at Ca\u2019 Foscari University in Italy, said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThis discovery rewrites the playbook for Arctic deep-sea ecosystems and carbon cycling.\u201d<\/p>\n A paper on the discovery was published on December 17 in Nature Communications<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cold, submerged vents <\/p>\n The newly found Freya Hydrate Mounds are gas hydrate cold seeps. Like hydrothermal vents, cold seeps typically appear as fissures on the seafloor that leak fluids rich in hydrocarbons. The two features have some similarities but differ in important ways.<\/p>\n For instance, cold seeps, true to their name, are relatively colder and emit oil and methane in addition to hydrocarbons. They\u2019re also longer-lasting<\/a> than hydrothermal vents, which are typically volatile and short-lived since they\u2019re formed by volcanic activity.<\/p>\n Theoretically, there is no depth limit for how far down a cold seep can maintain stability. However, before Freya, researchers hadn\u2019t found any seep deeper than around 6,500 feet (2,000 meters). So, at a \u201cstaggering depth\u201d of roughly 12,000 feet, the Freya mounds \u201cchallenge our previous understanding of hydrate formation,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n No sunlight, no problem Because cold seeps persist for a long time, a rich array of marine creatures make a home for themselves near the fissure. Accordingly, the researchers identified chemosynthetic<\/a> communities\u2014tiny creatures that live on chemicals, not sunlight\u2014thriving near the cold seep, such as tubeworms, snails, and amphipods.<\/p>\n![\"Freya](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/freya-hydrate-fauna-e1766519919291-322x336.jpg\")
A small sample of the chemosynthetic creatures found near the Freya mounds. \u00a9 Panieri et al., 2025. <\/p>\n
![\"Freya](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/freya-hydrate-mound-geology-change-1263x1280.jpg\")
The Freya Hydrate Mounds continuously shift in morphology over time. \u00a9 Panieri et al., 2025 <\/p>\n