Publication Date:
2004-05-15
Description:
In the Campeche Knolls, in the southern Gulf of Mexico, lava-like flows of solidified asphalt cover more than 1 square kilometer of the rim of a dissected salt dome at a depth of 3000 meters below sea level. Chemosynthetic tubeworms and bivalves colonize the sea floor near the asphalt, which chilled and contracted after discharge. The site also includes oil seeps, gas hydrate deposits, locally anoxic sediments, and slabs of authigenic carbonate. Asphalt volcanism creates a habitat for chemosynthetic life that may be widespread at great depth in the Gulf of Mexico.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉MacDonald, I R -- Bohrmann, G -- Escobar, E -- Abegg, F -- Blanchon, P -- Blinova, V -- Bruckmann, W -- Drews, M -- Eisenhauer, A -- Han, X -- Heeschen, K -- Meier, F -- Mortera, C -- Naehr, T -- Orcutt, B -- Bernard, B -- Brooks, J -- de Farago, M -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2004 May 14;304(5673):999-1002.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Physical and Life Sciences Department, Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA. imacdonald@falcon.tamucc.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15143278" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
Annelida/physiology
;
Anthozoa/physiology
;
Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
;
Biodiversity
;
Bivalvia/physiology
;
Crustacea/physiology
;
*Ecosystem
;
Environment
;
Fishes/physiology
;
Gases
;
*Geologic Sediments
;
*Hydrocarbons
;
Invertebrates/physiology
;
Mollusca/physiology
;
Petroleum
;
Seawater
;
*Volcanic Eruptions
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
