Scientists have found something unexpected in the cold Arctic waters – a mud volcano that works more like a unique deep-sea ecosystem than a typical volcano. Located 400 meters under the Barents Sea, the Borealis Mud Volcano pushes out warm, methane-rich fluids instead of hot lava. “Today we have discovered something exceptional,” says Professor Giuliana Panieri from The Arctic University of Norway (UiT), who led the 2023 discovery team. Using an underwater robot named Aurora, scientists found that this 7,000-year-old formation warms the normally frigid Arctic waters from 4°C to 11.5°C. Think of the volcano as a continuous source of … Continue reading Arctic’s Borealis Mud Volcano: 7,000-Year-Old Methane Ecosystem