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Scripps Graduate Students Discover Methane Seep Ecosystem off San Diego
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressreleases/scripps_graduate_students_discover_methane_seep_ecosystem_off_san_diego#.UBGFA3DgLys[font face=Serif][font size=5]Scripps Graduate Students Discover Methane Seep Ecosystem off San Diego[/font]
[font size=4]Expedition evidence reveals features of a unique deep-sea gas environment; Return voyage planned for December for further exploration[/font]
[font size=3]During a recent oceanographic expedition off San Diego, graduate student researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego discovered convincing evidence of a deep-sea site where methane is likely seeping out of the seafloor, the first such finding off San Diego County.
Such "methane seeps" are fascinating environments because of their extraordinary chemical features and often bizarre marine life. The area of interest, roughly 20 miles west of Del Mar, is centered on a fault zone known as the San Diego Trough Fault zone. Methane, a clear, highly combustible gas, exists in the earth's crust under the seafloor along many of the world's continental margins. Faults can provide a pathway for methane to "seep" upward toward the seafloor.
The Scripps graduate students made the discovery during the recent San Diego Coastal Expedition (bit.ly/sdcoastex), a multidisciplinary voyage conceived and executed by Scripps graduate students. The cruise was funded by the University of California Ship Funds Program, which supports student research at sea and provides seagoing leadership opportunities.
While conducting surveys in search of methane seeps aboard Scripps' research vessel Melville, the graduate students mapped a distinct mound on the seafloor at 1,036 meters depth (3,400 feet), spanning the size of a city block and rising to the height of a two-story building. The area had been recommended by Jamie Conrad, Holly Ryan (U.S. Geological Survey) and Charles Paull (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), who surveyed the faults in 2010.
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[font size=4]Expedition evidence reveals features of a unique deep-sea gas environment; Return voyage planned for December for further exploration[/font]
[font size=3]During a recent oceanographic expedition off San Diego, graduate student researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego discovered convincing evidence of a deep-sea site where methane is likely seeping out of the seafloor, the first such finding off San Diego County.
Such "methane seeps" are fascinating environments because of their extraordinary chemical features and often bizarre marine life. The area of interest, roughly 20 miles west of Del Mar, is centered on a fault zone known as the San Diego Trough Fault zone. Methane, a clear, highly combustible gas, exists in the earth's crust under the seafloor along many of the world's continental margins. Faults can provide a pathway for methane to "seep" upward toward the seafloor.
The Scripps graduate students made the discovery during the recent San Diego Coastal Expedition (bit.ly/sdcoastex), a multidisciplinary voyage conceived and executed by Scripps graduate students. The cruise was funded by the University of California Ship Funds Program, which supports student research at sea and provides seagoing leadership opportunities.
While conducting surveys in search of methane seeps aboard Scripps' research vessel Melville, the graduate students mapped a distinct mound on the seafloor at 1,036 meters depth (3,400 feet), spanning the size of a city block and rising to the height of a two-story building. The area had been recommended by Jamie Conrad, Holly Ryan (U.S. Geological Survey) and Charles Paull (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), who surveyed the faults in 2010.
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