Emissions of methane (CH 4 )-rich fluids from the seafloor at cold seeps ascends, are considered an important component of global element cycling, and sustain one of the richest ecosystems in the ocean by supplying energy to microbial communities (Boetius & Wenzhöfer, 2013;Hinrichs et al., 1999). They are frequently observed on active and passive continental margins worldwide and are commonly associated with the dissociation of gas hydrates which are stable at low temperatures and high pressures in the subsurface (Suess, 2014). Almost ∼500-2,000 Gt carbon is stored in marine hydrates globally (Wallmann et al., 2012), and gas hydrate dissociation likely causes the release of large quantities of methane (Serov et al., 2017). Although most of methane is expected to be consumed at the seabed (Reeburgh, 2007), it is still capable Abstract Methane seeps are widespread at continental margins, and may exert an influence on climate change. However, many details concerning the relationship between methane seepage and climate change in the geological history remain unclear. Geological records of cold seeps at glacial-interglacial transitions remain scarce due to the lack of relatively complete records. Here we present geochemical data of seep carbonates from a drill core from the South China Sea, which reveals three stages of methane seepage linked to the dissociation of biogenic methane hydrate: ∼130.3 ka BP before, MIS 5 (∼130.3 to 111.4 ka BP) and MIS 1 (∼11.1 to 10.0 ka BP). Our results evidence that methane seepage was induced by warm seawater and subsequently hydrostatic pressure drop during deglaciations. We suspect this process to occur in other world regions and infer that methane seepage might occur more widespread at glacialinterglacial transitions, which in turn might have accelerated global warming.Plain Language Summary Gas hydrate, a key future clean energy resources, is a solid formed in sediments from methane and water under low-temperature and high-pressure conditions. The dissociation of gas hydrate has the potential to emit large quantities of methane, which is an important contributor to the greenhouse effect and ocean acidification. The factors governing gas hydrate dissociation at ocean margins are still under debate. Changes in temperature or pressure have been regarded as main driving forces triggering seepage events. However, the relationship between global climate change and past methane seepages remain unknown as sampling of seep carbonates, an excellent archive of past seepage activity, are conducted mainly at seafloor, resulting in lack of relatively complete records of methane seeps. Here, we show the mineralogical, geochemical and chronological data of seep carbonate from a long drill core in the South China Sea. Our results indicate massive methane emissions into the seawater column caused by gas hydrate dissociation during glacial terminations. This is likely due to elevated temperature of bottom water and subsequently rapid fall of sea-level. Thus, we speculate that there are large-scale d...
