Subsurface microbial methanotrophic mats in the Black Sea
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Updated: Feb 16, 2026

Using Flexible Gold-Titanium Reaction Cells to Simulate Pressure-Dependent Microbial Activity in the Context of Subsurface Biomining
Published on: October 5, 2019
Tina Treude1, Katrin Knittel, Martin Blumenberg
1Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany. ttreude@mpi-bremen.de
Abstract:
A nodule-shaped microbial mat was found subsurface in sediments of a gas seep in the anoxic Black Sea. This mat was dominated by ANME-1 archaea and consumed methane and sulfate simultaneously. We propose that such subsurface mats represent the initial stage of previously investigated microbial reefs.
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