Methane Seep Off San Diego Supports Ecosystem Of Worms In Symbiosis With Methane-Eating Bacteria

[hatrack]

Fascinating!

While mapping the seafloor off San Diego, researchers found something odd: a seafloor mound about the height of a two-story building and the size of a city block. Further investigation found evidence the formation was caused by methane leaking out of the seafloor, which would make it the first so-called "methane seep" in San Diego County, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego announced Wednesday.

The Scripps researchers took samples from 3,400 feet below the surface and bought up strange worms and clams that likely live off symbiotic bacteria that break down the clear, flammable gas.

Such sites are important oases of life on the dark seafloor, with the methane-eating bacteria at the base of a rich and productive community that helps sustain the surrounding deep-sea ecosystem.

"These chemosynthetic ecosystems are considered 'hot spots' of life on the seafloor in an otherwise desert-like landscape," said expedition member Alexis Pasulka, a Scripps biological oceanography graduate student, in a statement. "New forms of life are continuously being discovered in these environments."

EDIT

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/48328660/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UCrSdKPjK1c

[johnd83]

1. Aren't there some bacteria that eat crude oil as well?

Don't get me wrong, the BP oil spill was horrific, but the long term damage may not be as great if there are organisms that can eat the oil.

Adding the dispersant was probably worse than the spill itself...