Submarine mud volcanoes are considered an important source of methane to the water column. However, the temporal variability of their fluid transport including mud and methane emissions is largely unknown. Assuming that this transport was continuous and at steady state, methane emissions were previously proposed to result from a dynamic equilibrium between upward migration and consumption at the seabed by methane-consuming microbes. Here we have investigated non-steady state situations of vigorous mud movements and their reflection in fluid flow, seabed temperature and bathymetry. Time series of pressure, temperature, pH and seafloor photography were collected by a benthic observatory (LOOME) for 431 days at the active Håkon Mosby mud volcano. These new data document eruptions, which were accompanied by pulses of hot subsurface fluids and triggered rapid sediment uplift and lateral movement, as well as emissions of free gas.

Supplement to: Feseker, Tomas; Boetius, Antje; Wenzhöfer, Frank; Blandin, Jérome; Olu, Karine; Yoerger, Dana; Camilli, Rich; German, Christopher R; de Beer, Dirk (2014): Eruption of a deep-sea mud volcano triggers rapid sediment movement. Nature Communications, 5, 5385