Message #264737

[Desiree]

The Barents Sea. Picture: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

“Multiple giant craters exist on the sea floor in an area in the west-central Barents Sea ... and are probably a cause of enormous blowouts of gas,” researchers from the Arctic University of Norway told the Sunday Times.

“The crater area is likely to represent one of the largest hot spots for shallow marine methane release in the Arctic.”

Details of the discovery will be released at the annual meeting of the European Geosciences Union next month, where experts will analyse whether these kind of bubbles could place ships in danger.