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Science 21 September 1979:
Vol. 205. no. 4412, pp. 1264 - 1266
DOI: 10.1126/science.205.4412.1264
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Articles

Submarine Seep of Carbon Dioxide in Norton Sound, Alaska

KEITH A. KVENVOLDEN 1, KAREN WELIKY 1, HANS NELSON 1, and DAVID J. DES MARAIS 2

1 U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025
2 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035

Earlier workers have described a submarine gas seep in Norton Sound having an unusual mixture of petroleum-like, low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons. Actually, only about 0.04 percent of the seeping gas is hydrocarbons and 98 percent is carbon dioxide. The isotopic compositions of carbon dioxide (dgr13CPDB = –2.7 per mil) and methane (dgr13CPDB = –36 per mil, where PDB is the Peedee belemnite standard) indicate that geothermal processes are active here.

Submitted on March 16, 1979
Revised on May 7, 1979

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)