Cold seeps leak methane that nourishes chemosynthetic mussels and worms
Along continental slopes, methane and sulfide seep slowly from sediments without the roaring heat of black smokers. Microbes oxidize the gases and feed symbiotic animals clustered on the mud.
Carbonate crusts and mussel beds mark long-lived seeps that can last millennia — quieter cousins of hydrothermal vents.
Not every chemical oasis boils. Cold seeps prove the deep seafloor can run on leaked fossil fuels of geology, one slow bubble at a time.
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