Under the Ice and Into the Sediment

Hidden under the Ross Sea, lies the first active methane seep in Antarctica, and first globally with a known origin. These are regions where methane gas is released from the seafloor. What role do these animals that live in the sediment have in reducing methane release into our atmosphere?

This poster was drawn with colored pencils on toned gray sketch paper and designed in the program Krita. All specimens were hand collected and imaged for references during my Master's research at UCSB in the Cold Dark Benthos Lab. By sorting through many sediment core collections, animals are sorted by morphotype (similar form) for later analysis to understand the role infauna (animals that live in the sediment) have on methane usage at the Cinder Cones methane seep, in Antarctica. These are some of the most common animals that were found. Animals are not drawn to scale with each other.