Methane-eating microorganisms inhabiting rocky mounds at the bottom of the ocean could be preventing huge amounts of methane entering and poisoning the atmosphere, said a recent study.

A team of scientists led by Victoria Orphan of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at California Institute of Technology stumbled upon this while examining carbonate rocks from three cold vents across the world.

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One of these vents is located at the Eel River basin at the northwestern California coast; the other at a nearby tectonic plate boundary in Costa Rica and the last at the Hydrate Ridge along the coast of Oregon.

The rocks have sizes and distribution ranging from tiny pebbles to massive fields extending dozens of square miles. Scientists previously recognized it as a sink for methane but later said the authigenic carbonate rocks are also a home to thriving ecosystems of microbes that "eat" methane.

Based on the analysis of rock samples, which was detailed in the journal Nature Communications, scientists found that the microbes didn't rely on oxygen to survive but rather depended on sulfate ions and methane to power their metabolism.

According to the scientists, the microbes eat about 80 to 90 percent of methane released through cracks in the ocean floor.

They consume methane at a slower rate than their kin that dwell on sediments. There are still more microbes in the carbonate rocks than in sediments, making the former's impact on global methane levels more imperative.

Without their metabolism process, a large percentage of methane would enter the ocean column and escape into the atmosphere at higher rates.

The potent greenhouse gas methane traps heat in the atmosphere and is deemed more toxic to the environment than the more abundant carbon dioxide. 

The microbes have a very important role in reducing the contribution of methane in global warming.  

Tagsglobal warming, Methane-crunching Microbes, Methane