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标题：Structure and Drivers of Cold Seep Ecosystems
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作者：Jean-Paul Foucher ; Graham K. Westbrook ; Antje Boetius 等
期刊名称：Oceanography - Oceanography Society
印刷版ISSN：1042-8275
出版年度：2009
卷号：22
期号：1
页码：92-109
DOI：10.5670/oceanog.2009.11
出版社：Oceanography Society
摘要：Submarine hydrocarbon seeps are geologically driven “hotspots” of increased biological activity on the seabed. As part of the HERMES project, several sites of natural hydrocarbon seepage in the European seas were investigated in detail, including mud volcanoes and pockmarks, in study areas extending from the Nordic margin, to the Gulf of Cádiz, to the Mediterranean and Black seas. High-resolution seabed maps and the main properties of key seep sites are presented here. Individual seeps show ecosystem zonation related to the strength of the methane flux and distinct biogeochemical processes in surface sediments. A feature common to many seeps is the formation of authigenic carbonate constructions. These constructions exhibit various morphologies ranging from large pavements and fragmented slabs to chimneys and mushroom-shaped mounds, and they form hard substrates colonized by fixed fauna. Gas hydrate dissociation could contribute to sustain seep chemosynthetic communities over several thousand years following large gas-release events.