Global high rates of anaerobic methane oxidation at marine cold seeps recorded by isotope bonding in seep carbonates
- 1The Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering, Woods Hole, MA 02543
- 2Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Abstract
Microbial anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) regulates the flux of methane (CH4) released from anoxic marine sediments into the ocean. However, variations in AOM rates, especially at dynamic environments such as cold seeps, are difficult to constrain, hindering robust projections of marine CH4 flux in a changing climate. Here, we quantify AOM rates at global marine cold seeps based on isotope bonding in methane-derived authigenic carbonates. We show through model simulations that 13C-18O bond abundance in these carbonates quantitatively records AOM rates at marine cold seeps and validate this proxy using compiled datasets of seep carbonate isotope compositions and independent AOM rate measurements. Accordingly, we estimate a mean AOM rate of 6.33.910.6 mol·m−2·yr−1 and a consumption of 2.11.33.5 Tg·yr−1 CH4 at modern global cold seeps, but potentially 1.70.93.1 times as high an AOM rate and CH4 sink over the last ~100 kyr. Our results highlight the important role of cold seeps in the global marine CH4 cycle despite their relatively minuscule footprint.
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BibTeX
@article{wieman2026global,
title = {{Global high rates of anaerobic methane oxidation at marine cold seeps recorded by isotope bonding in seep carbonates}},
author = {Scott T. Wieman and Weifu Guo},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2533639123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2533639123},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Global high rates of anaerobic methane oxidation at marine cold seeps recorded by isotope bonding in seep carbonates
AU - Scott T. Wieman
AU - Weifu Guo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2533639123
UR - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2533639123
AB - Microbial anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) regulates the flux of methane (CH4) released from anoxic marine sediments into the ocean. However, variations in AOM rates, especially at dynamic environments such as cold seeps, are difficult to constrain, hindering robust projections of marine CH4 flux in a changing climate. Here, we quantify AOM rates at global marine cold seeps based on isotope bonding in methane-derived authigenic carbonates. We show through model simulations that 13C-18O bond abundance in these carbonates quantitatively records AOM rates at marine cold seeps and validate this proxy using compiled datasets of seep carbonate isotope compositions and independent AOM rate measurements. Accordingly, we estimate a mean AOM rate of 6.33.910.6 mol·m−2·yr−1 and a consumption of 2.11.33.5 Tg·yr−1 CH4 at modern global cold seeps, but potentially 1.70.93.1 times as high an AOM rate and CH4 sink over the last ~100 kyr. Our results highlight the important role of cold seeps in the global marine CH4 cycle despite their relatively minuscule footprint.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -