Articles | Volume 13, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-4491-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-4491-2016
Research article
 | 
11 Aug 2016
Research article |  | 11 Aug 2016

Massive asphalt deposits, oil seepage, and gas venting support abundant chemosynthetic communities at the Campeche Knolls, southern Gulf of Mexico

Heiko Sahling, Christian Borowski, Elva Escobar-Briones, Adriana Gaytán-Caballero, Chieh-Wei Hsu, Markus Loher, Ian MacDonald, Yann Marcon, Thomas Pape, Miriam Römer, Maxim Rubin-Blum, Florence Schubotz, Daniel Smrzka, Gunter Wegener, and Gerhard Bohrmann

Viewed

Total article views: 5,670 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total Supplement BibTeX EndNote
2,715 2,331 624 5,670 469 101 117
  • HTML: 2,715
  • PDF: 2,331
  • XML: 624
  • Total: 5,670
  • Supplement: 469
  • BibTeX: 101
  • EndNote: 117
Views and downloads (calculated since 24 Mar 2016)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 24 Mar 2016)

Cited

Saved (preprint)

Discussed (final revised paper)

Discussed (preprint)

Latest update: 18 Apr 2024
Download
Short summary
We were excited about nature’s diversity when we discovered spectacular flows of heavy oil at the seafloor with the remotely operated vehicle QUEST 4000 m in Campeche Bay, southern Gulf of Mexico. Vigorous methane gas bubble emissions lead to massive gas hydrate deposits at water depth as deep as 3420 m. The hydrates formed metre-sized mounds at the seafloor that were densely overgrown by vestimentiferan tubeworms and other seep-typical organisms.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint