[1] As part of an ongoing effort to explore the use of foraminifera as a means to assess modern and ancient methane release, we compared ambient pore water chemistry with the distribution and stable isotopic composition of living (rose Bengal stained) foraminifera in MBARI ROV Ventana tube cores taken from modern seepage areas (about 1000 m water depth) in Monterey Bay, California. Benthic foraminiferal isotopic differences between sites clearly indicate that methane-influenced pore waters affect foraminiferal distributions and carbonate isotope geochemistry. Carbon isotope signatures of living benthic foraminifera did not conform to the very negative (À30 to À48%), methane-influenced carbon isotope values of the pore waters they live in. Instead, the influence of methane seep pore waters was reflected in the greater range and carbon isotopic variability of living seep foraminifera compared with published d 13 C values of foraminifera living in nonseep habitats. It is not clear what relative influences biological, ecological, and physical factors have on the carbon isotopic signatures observed in seep foraminifera. Substantial carbon isotope differences can exist between individuals of the same seep species. For instance, d 13 C values of living Globobulimina pacifica varied by as much as 2.9% between seeps within 8 km of each other, whereas d 13 C values of living Uvigerina peregrina varied by as much as 1.95% within the same seep. Provided there is no diagenetic alteration of the test carbonate, isotopic results of individual seep foraminifera support the hypothesis that foraminifera can be used to assess past and present methane seepage.

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Fossil foraminifera are critical to paleoceanographic reconstructions including estimates of past episodes of methane venting. These reconstructions rely on benthic foraminifera incorporating and retaining unaltered the ambient isotopic compositions of pore fluids and bottom waters. Comparisons are made here of isotopic compositions of abundant live and fossil foraminifera (Uvigerina peregrina, Epistominella pacifica, Bulimina mexicana, and Globobulimina pacifica) collected in Monterey Bay, CA from two cold seeps (Clam Flats and Extrovert Cliffs) and from sediments ∼5 m outside of the Clam Flats seep. Clam Flats has steep δ13CDIC gradients (to <−45‰), but DIC at Extrovert Cliffs is less enriched in 12C (to approximately −22‰). Oxygen isotope values of fossil foraminifera at Clam Flats are ∼1.5‰ enriched in 18O over the living foraminifera, as well as those of both live and fossil foraminifera at Extrovert Cliffs, suggesting they may have lived during the last glacial maximum. Statistical comparisons (Student's t and Kolmogorov‐Smirnov tests) of δ13C and δ18O values indicate that live and fossil foraminifera come from different populations at both Clam Flats and Extrovert Cliffs. At Clam Flats, the difference appears to result from alteration enriching some fossil foraminifera in 12C over live foraminifera. At Extrovert Cliffs, the fossil foraminifera are enriched in 13C over the live foraminifera, suggesting they lived prior to the onset of venting and thus that venting began recently. The short time of venting at Extrovert Cliffs may be responsible for the less alteration there compared with Clam Flats. These results indicate that preservation of foraminifera is likely to be poor within long‐lived cold seeps, but that foraminifera living in the surrounding sediment may incorporate and preserve broad basin‐wide changes in isotopic compositions of the ambient water.

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