CROPfm Forum

Large quantities of the gas - which on Earth is mostly produced by living things - were recorded by three huge telescopes during a seven year study.

The level of activity was so great that at times it equalled the amount of the gas released at some of the most methane-rich locations on Earth.

Scientists say that further investigation is necessary to determine whether the gas - spotted in 2003 - was created by the biological processes of creatures such as microbes, or from volcanic activity.