Gas hydrate crystals may help build reefs
Henriet, J.-P.; De Mol, B.; Pillen, S.; Vanneste, M.; Van Rooij, D.; Versteeg, W.; Croker, P.F.; Shannon, P.M.; Unnithan, V.; Bouriak, S.; Chachkine, P. (1998). Gas hydrate crystals may help build reefs. Nature (Lond.) 391: 648-649 In: Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 0028-0836; e-ISSN 1476-4687, more |  |
| Keywords | Chemical compounds > Organic compounds > Hydrocarbons > Gas hydrates
Crystallization
Reefs
ANE, Porcupine Abyssal Plain [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top | - Henriet, J.-P., more
- De Mol, B., more
- Pillen, S.
- Vanneste, M.
| - Van Rooij, D., more
- Versteeg, W., more
- Croker, P.F.
- Shannon, P.M.
| - Unnithan, V.
- Bouriak, S.
- Chachkine, P.
|
| Abstract | During a recent cruise in the Porcupine Basin, off southwest Ireland, we discovered two extensive and hitherto largely unsuspected deep-water reef provinces, including a giant cluster of hundreds of buried mounds. The ring shapes of many reefs suggest that they are caused by an axial fluid expulsion at the sea bed, a transient flow well confined in space and time. We are exploring various hypotheses, but a stimulating avenue for research is opened by a glacially controlled growth pulse and subsequent decay of a shallow layer of gas hydrates as a methane buffer and probably indirectly as a ground for overlying biological communities. |
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