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Science 14 May 2004:
Vol. 304. no. 5673, pp. 999 - 1002
DOI: 10.1126/science.1097154
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Reports

Asphalt Volcanism and Chemosynthetic Life in the Campeche Knolls, Gulf of Mexico

I. R. MacDonald,1* G. Bohrmann,2 E. Escobar,3 F. Abegg,2 P. Blanchon,4 V. Blinova,2 W. Brückmann,5 M. Drews,5 A. Eisenhauer,5 X. Han,6 K. Heeschen,2 F. Meier,2 C. Mortera,7 T. Naehr,1 B. Orcutt,8 B. Bernard,9 J. Brooks,9 M. de Faragó10

In the Campeche Knolls, in the southern Gulf of Mexico, lava-like flows of solidified asphalt cover more than 1 square kilometer of the rim of a dissected salt dome at a depth of 3000 meters below sea level. Chemosynthetic tubeworms and bivalves colonize the sea floor near the asphalt, which chilled and contracted after discharge. The site also includes oil seeps, gas hydrate deposits, locally anoxic sediments, and slabs of authigenic carbonate. Asphalt volcanism creates a habitat for chemosynthetic life that may be widespread at great depth in the Gulf of Mexico.

1 Physical and Life Sciences Department, Texas A & M University–Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA.
2 Fachbereich 5 Geowissenschaften, University Bremen, D-28334 Bremen, Germany.
3 Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologìa, Apartado Postal 70-305, Mexico 045510, D.F. Mexico.
4 Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologìa, Apartado Postal 1152, Cancún, D.F. Mexico.
5 IFM-GEOMAR, Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, D-24148 Kiel, Germany.
6 Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Zhejiang 310012, China.
7 Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Instituto de Geofisica, Mexico, 04510, D.F. Mexico.
8 University of Georgia, 220 Marine Sciences Building, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
9 TDI-Brooks International, Inc. 1902 Pinion, College Station, TX 77845, USA.
10 Aurensis, SA, San Francisco de Sales 38, 28003, Madrid, Spain.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: imacdonald{at}falcon.tamucc.edu

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