Scientists Found the Deepest Known Arctic Vent—and It’s Teeming With Life

Beneath cold, high-pressure oceans, water and gas molecules clump together into crystalline solids called gas hydrates. During a research cruise around the North Pole, scientists encountered the deepest gas hydrate ever found—an elusive crack on the seafloor hosting a myriad of scientific treasures.

The Freya Hydrate Mounds lie under Molloy Ridge near Greenland and were discovered in May 2024. Located at a depth of nearly 12,000 feet (3,640 meters), the mounds are the deepest vents of…