MICROORGANISMS OF MARINE COLD HYDROCARBON SEEPS

Marine hydrocarbon seeps, due to their unique geophysical and geochemical characteristics, form unique conditions for the development of specific microbial communities. Diverse and interconnected metabolic activities of them underlie global ecological processes. In this review were considered the geophysical and chemical conditions for the formation of seepages and hydrocarbon fluids – energy sources and substrates for metabolic processes mediated by microorganisms that exist in these ecological niches. It was presented the information about microbial biodiversity in cold hydrocarbon seeps, its metabolic potential in conditions of dynamic environmental development.