100x larger hydrogen-rich hydrothermal system found using submersible

Scientists from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered the Kunlun hydrothermal system beneath the western Pacific seafloor, a hydrogen-rich field over 100 times larger than the well-known Lost City hydrothermal field. Located about 80 kilometers west of the Mussau Trench on the Caroline Plate, Kunlun spans 11.1 square kilometers and features 20 large seafloor depressions resembling pipe swarms with steep walls similar to kimberlite pipes. Using the crewed submersible Fendouzhe and advanced seafloor Raman spectroscopy, researchers measured exceptionally high hydrogen concentrations (around 5.9 to 6.8 millimoles per kilogram) in hydrothermal fluids, estimating an annual hydrogen flux of 4.8 × 10^11 moles, which accounts for at least 5% of global abiotic hydrogen output from submarine sources. The discovery challenges previous assumptions by showing that serpentinization-driven hydrogen generation can occur far from mid