A reservoir of abiotic methane has been discovered in the
Arctic Ocean. This means that there is more of the greenhouse gas trapped under
the seabed than previously thought.
Methane, a highly effective greenhouse gas, is usually
produced by decomposition of organic material, a complex process involving
bacteria and microbes.
But there is another type of methane that can appear under
specific circumstances: Abiotic methane is formed by chemical reactions in the
oceanic crust beneath the seafloor.