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Functioning of microbial communities in surface sediments of the Haakon Mosby underwater mud volcano (lat. 72°N) and in gas seepage fields of the Vestnesa Ridge was investigated using Mir-1 and Mir-2 deep-sea submersibles during the 40th voyage of the research vessel Academician Mstislav Keldysh. Large areas of sedimentary deposits of the Haakon Mosby mud volcano (HMMV) and pockmarks of the Vestnesa Ridge (VR) are covered with bacterial mats 0.1 to 0.5 cm thick. The microbial community making up bacterial mats of the HMMV was dominated by large filamentous bacteria with filaments measuring up to 100 μm in length and 2 to 8 μm in width. The occurrence of rosettes allowed the observed filamentous bacteria to be referred to the morphologically similar genera Leucothrix or Thiothrix. Three morphological types of filamentous bacteria were identified in bacterial mats covering VR pockmarks. Filaments of type one are morphologically similar with representatives of the genera Thioploca or Desmanthos. Type two filaments had numerous inclusions of sulfur and resembled representatives of the genus Thiothrix. The third morphological type was constituted by single filaments made up of tightly connected disk-like cells and can be assigned to the genus Beggiatoa. The rates of methane oxidation (up to 1570 μl C/(dm3 day)) and sulfate reduction (up to 17 mg S/(dm3day)) measured in the surface sediments of HMMV and VR were close to the maximum rates of these processes observed in heavily polluted regions of the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea. High rates of microbiological processes correlated with the high number of bacteria. The rate of methane production in sediments studied was notably lower and ranged from 0.1 to 3.5 μ CH4/(dm3 day). Large areas of the HMMV caldera were populated by pogonophoras, represented by the two species Sclerolinum sp. and Oligobrachia sp. The mass development of Sclerolinum sp. in the HMMV caldera was by the activity of aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria localized inside the cells of these animals. Bacterial cells were also found in the trophosome tissue of Oligobrachia sp., but in cells of these bacteria, we did not observe the membrane structures typical of methanotrophs. The localization pattern of pogonophoras on the surface of reduced sediments suggests that the predominant bacteria in Oligobrachia tissues are sulfur-oxidizing endosymbionts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Dnepr paleo-delta area in the NW Black Sea is characterized by an abundant presence of methane seeps. During the expeditions of May–June 2003 and 2004 within the EU-funded CRIMEA project, detailed multibeam, seismic and hydro-acoustic water-column investigations were carried out to study the relation between the spatial distribution of methane seeps, sea-floor morphology and sub-surface structures. 2778 new methane seeps were detected on echosounding records in an area of 1540 km2. All seeps are located in the transition zone between the continental shelf and slope, in water depths of 66 to 825 m. The integration of the different geophysical datasets clearly indicates that methane seeps are not randomly distributed in this area, but are concentrated in specific locations. The depth limit for the majority of the detected seeps is 725 m water depth, which corresponds more or less with the stability limit for pure methane hydrate at the ambient bottom temperature (8.9 °C) in this part of the Black Sea. This suggests that, where gas hydrates are stable, they play the role of buffer for the upward migration of methane gas and thus prevent seepage of methane bubbles into the water column. Higher up on the margin, gas seeps are widespread, but accurate mapping illustrates that seeps occur preferentially in association with particular morphological and sub-surface features. On the shelf, the highest concentration of seeps is found in elongated depressions (pockmarks) above the margins of filled channels. On the continental slope where no pockmarks have been observed, seepage occurs along crests of sedimentary ridges. There, seepage is focussed by a parallel-stratified sediment cover that thins out towards the ridge crests. On the slope, seepage also appears in the vicinity of canyons (bottom, flanks and margins) or near the scarps of submarine landslides where mass-wasting breaches the fine-grained sediment cover that acts as a stratigraphic seal. The seismic data show the presence of a distinct “gas front,” which has been used to map the depth of the free gas within the sea-floor sediments. The depth of this gas front is variable and locally domes up to the sea floor. Where the gas front approaches the seafloor, gas bubbles were detected in the water column. A regional map of the sub-surface depth of the gas front emphasises this “gas front-versus-seep” relationship. The integration of all data sets indicates that the spatial distribution of methane seeps in the Dnepr paleo-delta is mainly controlled by the gas-hydrate stability zone as well as by stratigraphic and sedimentary factors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Functioning of microbial communities in surface sediments of the Haakon Mosby underwater mud volcano (lat. 72°N) and in gas seepage fields of the Vestnesa Ridge was investigated using Mir-1 and Mir-2 deep-sea submersibles during the 40th voyage of the research vessel Academician Mstislav Keldysh. Large areas of sedimentary deposits of the Haakon Mosby mud volcano (HMMV) and pockmarks of the Vestnesa Ridge (VR) are covered with bacterial mats 0.1 to 0.5 cm thick. The microbial community making up bacterial mats of the HMMV was dominated by large filamentous bacteria with filaments measuring up to 100 μm in length and 2 to 8 μm in width. The occurrence of rosettes allowed the observed filamentous bacteria to be referred to the morphologically similar genera Leucothrix or Thiothrix. Three morphological types of filamentous bacteria were identified in bacterial mats covering VR pockmarks. Filaments of type one are morphologically similar with representatives of the genera Thioploca or Desmanthos. Type two filaments had numerous inclusions of sulfur and resembled representatives of the genus Thiothrix. The third morphological type was constituted by single filaments made up of tightly connected disk-like cells and can be assigned to the genus Beggiatoa. The rates of methane oxidation (up to 1570 μl C/(dm3 day)) and sulfate reduction (up to 17 mg S/(dm3day)) measured in the surface sediments of HMMV and VR were close to the maximum rates of these processes observed in heavily polluted regions of the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea. High rates of microbiological processes correlated with the high number of bacteria. The rate of methane production in sediments studied was notably lower and ranged from 0.1 to 3.5 μ CH4/(dm3 day). Large areas of the HMMV caldera were populated by pogonophoras, represented by the two species Sclerolinum sp. and Oligobrachia sp. The mass development of Sclerolinum sp. in the HMMV caldera was by the activity of aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria localized inside the cells of these animals. Bacterial cells were also found in the trophosome tissue of Oligobrachia sp., but in cells of these bacteria, we did not observe the membrane structures typical of methanotrophs. The localization pattern of pogonophoras on the surface of reduced sediments suggests that the predominant bacteria in Oligobrachia tissues are sulfur-oxidizing endosymbionts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]