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A scientific expedition led by the Arctic University of Norway (UiT) revealed, in May 2023, something that seemed impossible: an active mud volcano hidden inside a giant crater at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. Furthermore, the discovery brought to light an entire ecosystem that survives on methane instead of sunlight.
The volcano, named Borealis, was found 400 meters deep in the Barents Sea, about 70 nautical miles south of Bear Island, Norway. However, the most impressive thing was not just the underwater volcanic activity itself.
Thus, the discovery reignited the debate about how life can thrive in the planet’s most extreme environments. In fact, scientists believe that this type of ecosystem can help understand how life emerged on early Earth.
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Scientists discover an active mud volcano hidden in a 300-meter crater on the Arctic seafloor — and find life that survives on methane instead of sunlight
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Scientists find active mud volcano hidden in a 300-meter crater at the bottom of the Arctic — and discover life that survives on methane instead of sunlight
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Scientists find active mud volcano hidden in a 300-meter crater at the bottom of the Arctic — and discover life that survives on methane instead of sunlight
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Paleontologists spent 5 years excavating the Sahara and found the first new Spinosaurus in over 100 years — the 8-meter predator had a 50-centimeter crest on its skull similar to Elvis’s pompadour and hunted giant fish in rivers that no longer exist.
A 300-meter crater hidden at the bottom of the Arctic
The Borealis mud volcano is located inside a crater 300 meters wide and 25 meters deep. According to researchers, this gigantic depression formed approximately 18,000 years ago, shortly after the end of the last Ice Age.
In this sense, the crater would have been created by a catastrophic methane explosion that ruptured the seabed. Consequently, the gas accumulated under layers of ice and sediments found a violent escape when the glaciers began to retreat.
Above all, the volcano’s cone itself is relatively small. It measures only 7 meters in diameter and 2.5 meters in height. However, its activity is continuous and impressive by Arctic standards.
Therefore, despite its modest size, Borealis constantly expels mud, methane-rich fluids, and gases directly from the Earth’s interior. Furthermore, it acts as a true window into geological processes occurring kilometers deep.
The AKMA3 expedition and the moment of discovery
The discovery occurred during the expedition of the AKMA3 (Advancing Knowledge of Methane in the Arctic) project. As reported by the team, the mission aimed to map natural methane emissions in the cold waters of the Norwegian Arctic.
On the other hand, no one expected to find an active mud volcano in that region. The team sailed aboard the research vessel Kronprins Haakon and used the ROV Aurora submersible to explore the seabed.
In fact, researchers were able to observe the mud eruption in real time through the ROV’s cameras. Professor Giuliana Panieri, expedition leader and principal investigator of AKMA, described the moment as unforgettable.
According to her, “seeing an underwater mud eruption in real time reminded me how alive our planet is.” Furthermore, Panieri emphasized that the possibility of other similar volcanoes existing in the Barents Sea cannot be ruled out.
In this regard, the AKMA project began in 2019 and partnered with REV Ocean, an organization dedicated to ocean conservation. Consequently, collaboration between universities and environmental organizations was essential to make the expedition possible.
Thus, Borealis became only the second mud volcano ever recorded in Norwegian waters. The first had been discovered in 1995, almost three decades earlier.
Methane in the Arctic and climate implications
The methane released by the Borealis volcano is not just a geological curiosity. Above all, it is a greenhouse gas up to 34 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.
Therefore, understanding how much methane naturally escapes from the Arctic seabed is fundamental for global climate models. Furthermore, the warming of Arctic waters may be accelerating the release of methane trapped in frozen sediments.
However, scientists emphasize that Borealis’ emissions are natural and have been occurring for millennia. In fact, the crater formed when the glaciers of the last Ice Age began to melt about 18,000 years ago.
As explained by researchers from the University of Padua, who also participated in the studies, Borealis offers a rare opportunity to study active deep geological processes.
In this sense, projects like AKMA are fundamental. After all, the Arctic is one of the fastest-warming regions on the planet, and understanding natural methane sources helps separate anthropogenic from geological emissions.
Chemosynthesis: life that thrives without sunlight
One of the most fascinating aspects of the Borealis volcano region is the presence of life that does not depend on photosynthesis. Thus, instead of using the sun’s energy, local organisms feed through chemosynthesis.
In this process, specialized bacteria obtain energy from chemical reactions involving methane and other compounds. Furthermore, these bacteria form the base of a food chain completely independent of sunlight.
Above all, this type of ecosystem has already been documented in other locations on the planet, such as hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. However, finding it associated with an active mud volcano in the Arctic is particularly rare and significant.
Therefore, the so-called cold seeps — locations where methane and other fluids slowly leak from the seabed — sustain surprising biological communities. Indeed, white mats of bacteria frequently cover the rocks around these vents.
Consequently, animals such as tube worms, sponges, starfish, and crustaceans can colonize these areas. On the other hand, diversity and abundance vary enormously depending on the intensity of methane emissions.
An extreme ecosystem in the icy depths
At 400 meters deep, where sunlight simply doesn’t reach, life has found an alternative way to thrive. Furthermore, the pressure and temperature conditions at this depth are extremely hostile for most organisms.
As previous studies on similar environments show, anemones, cold-water corals, and sea spiders can inhabit methane seep regions. Thus, each discovery of a new active site expands knowledge about the resilience of life.
In this sense, ROV (remotely operated vehicle) technology was essential to document these communities. Above all, without the Aurora submersible, it would have been impossible to directly observe what was happening inside the 300-meter crater.
Indeed, technological innovations in materials and water purification can benefit from the study of these extremophile organisms. Therefore, the basic science developed in these expeditions may have unexpected practical applications in the future.
The strategic importance of the Norwegian Arctic
Norway is one of the leading nations in the scientific exploration of the Arctic. Furthermore, the Barents Sea region holds enormous economic importance due to its oil and natural gas reserves.
However, discoveries like the Borealis volcano show that the Arctic seabed still holds surprising geological and biological secrets. Consequently, balancing resource exploitation with environmental preservation becomes increasingly urgent.
According to Professor Panieri, the existence of other mud volcanoes in the region is a real possibility. Thus, future expeditions should map still unexplored areas of the Norwegian seabed.
In this sense, the Arctic functions both as an energy operations hub and as a natural laboratory for science. On the other hand, climate change threatens to radically transform this environment before we can fully understand it.
Above all, each Arctic expedition produces valuable data on the planet’s functioning. Therefore, investing in oceanographic research in this region is not just a scientific matter, but also one of global climate security.
Caveats and limitations of the study
It is important to note that information about the chemosynthetic ecosystem associated with Borealis is still under investigation. Furthermore, the scientific community awaits peer-reviewed publications with more detailed biological data.
However, the presence of chemosynthesis-based life in submarine cold seeps and mud volcanoes is already widely documented in other regions, such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Black Sea. In fact, the conditions found in Borealis are compatible with this type of ecosystem.
Thus, although the discovery of the volcano and crater are confirmed by UiT, details about specific species and the extent of local biodiversity still depend on future laboratory analyses. Therefore, the data presented in this article reflect the current state of published knowledge.
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