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Science 7 February 1986:
Vol. 231. no. 4738, pp. 561 - 566
DOI: 10.1126/science.231.4738.561
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Articles

Oregon Subduction Zone: Venting, Fauna, and Carbonates

L. D. KULM 1, E. SUESS 1, J. C. MOORE 2, B. CARSON 3, B. T. LEWIS 4, S. D. RITGER 3, D. C. KADKO 1, T. M. THORNBURG 1, R. W. EMBLEY 5, W. D. RUGH 1, G. J. MASSOTH 6, M. G. LANGSETH 7, G. R. COCHRANE 4, and R. L. SCAMMAN 8

1 College of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331.
2 Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz 95064.
3 Department of Geological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015.
4 School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
5 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Resources Research Division, Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Newport 97365.
6 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA 98115.
7 Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Palisades, NY 10964.
8 Chevron U.S.A., Inc., Box 599, Denver, CO 80201.

Transects of the submersible Alvin across rock outcrops in the Oregon subduction zone have furnished information on the structural and stratigraphic framework of this accretionary complex. Communities of clams and tube worms, and authigenic carbonate mineral precipitates, are associated with venting sites of cool fluids located on a fault-bend anticline at a water depth of 2036 meters. The distribution of animals and carbonates suggests up-dip migration of fluids from both shallow and deep sources along permeable strata or fault zones within these clastic deposits. Methane is enriched in the water column over one vent site, and carbonate minerals and animal tissues are highly enriched in carbon-12. The animals use methane as an energy and food source in symbiosis with microorganisms. Oxidized methane is also the carbon source for the authigenic carbonates that cement the sediments of the accretionary complex. The animal communities and carbonates observed in the Oregon subduction zone occur in strata as old as 2.0 million years and provide criteria for identifying other localities where modern and ancient accreted deposits have vented methane, hydrocarbons, and other nutrient-bearing fluids.


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