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2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

8. The Asphalt Ecosystem of the Southern Gulf of Mexico: Abyssal Habitats Across Space and Time

Authors : Ian R. MacDonald, Adriana Gaytan-Caballero, Elva Escobar-Briones

Published in: Scenarios and Responses to Future Deep Oil Spills

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Recent findings cap more than a decade of research on habitats for chemoautotrophic fauna that are generated by hydrocarbon seepage at abyssal depths in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Extensive pavements (3300 m²) of asphalt, created by repeated, slow discharges, are sparsely colonized by tubeworms that tap reduced sulfur compounds through cracks and fissures in the solidified material. At depths greater than 3000 m, gas hydrate forms instantaneously, generating frozen mounds 10 m or greater in diameter. These deposits are apparently stable for decades or longer, because they are colonized by massive arrays of tubeworms. The asphalt ecosystem of the southern Gulf poses special challenges for expanding deep-water oil production and many potential chemosynthetic habitats remain unexplored.

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Title: The Asphalt Ecosystem of the Southern Gulf of Mexico: Abyssal Habitats Across Space and Time
Authors: Ian R. MacDonald
Adriana Gaytan-Caballero
Elva Escobar-Briones
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Scenarios and Responses to Future Deep Oil Spills
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12962-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-12963-7

Copyright Year: 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12963-7_8