Gas hydrate crystals may help build reefs

J. P. Henriet, B. De Mol, S. Pillen, M. Vanneste, D. Van Rooij, W. Versteeg, P. F. Croker, P. M. Shannon, V. Unnithan, S. Bouriak and P. Chachkine
Additional contact information
J. P. Henriet: Renard Centre of Marine Geology, University of Gent
B. De Mol: Renard Centre of Marine Geology, University of Gent
S. Pillen: Renard Centre of Marine Geology, University of Gent
M. Vanneste: Renard Centre of Marine Geology, University of Gent
D. Van Rooij: Renard Centre of Marine Geology, University of Gent
W. Versteeg: Renard Centre of Marine Geology, University of Gent
P. F. Croker: DTEC, Beggar's Bush
P. M. Shannon: University College Dublin
V. Unnithan: University College Dublin
S. Bouriak: UNESCO Centre for Marine Geology and Geophysics, Moscow State University
P. Chachkine: UNESCO Centre for Marine Geology and Geophysics, Moscow State University

Nature, 1998, vol. 391, issue 6668, 648-649

Abstract: 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.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1038/35530

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