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An upper slope “cold” seep community: Northern California.
Author(s) -
Kennicutt Mahlon C.,
Brooks James M.,
Bidigare Robert R.,
McDonald Susanne J.,
Adkison Daniel L.,
Macko Stephen A.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1989.34.3.0635
Subject(s) - petroleum seep , cold seep , chemosynthesis , coring , geology , carbon fibers , continental shelf , oceanography , habitat , paleontology , ecology , biology , drilling , methane , hydrothermal vent , mechanical engineering , materials science , engineering , composite number , hydrothermal circulation , composite material
Piston coring and trawling on the northern California continental slope (450–600 m) recovered shells and live organisms typical of a “cold” seep community. The presence of gas‐charged sediments, hydrates, and nearby oil seepage suggests that this habitat is like the hydrocarbon seeps of the Louisiana slope. Carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen isotopic compositions of organism tissues confirm the presence of bacterial chemosynthesis at these locations. This dicovery and previous reports suggest that the general occurrence of animals dependent on chemosynthesis is widespread.