'Waterfall' of microbes in Antarctic sea floor leads to discovery of methane leak

Clusters of microbes are seen among starfish on the bottom of the ocean floor in the Ross Sea, indicating a methane seep, in Antarctica, in this handout photo taken in 2016. Antarctic Methane Seeps/Andrew Thurber/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered an active methane seep from Antarctica's sea bed that could shed light on the potent greenhouse gas trapped beneath frozen continent.

Marine ecologist Andrew Thurber first glimpsed what a colleague described as a "microbial waterfall" during a dive in the icy waters of the Ross Sea in 2012. What looked like a superhighway of white patches on the ocean floor were clusters of tiny organisms drawn to the methane leak.