cold seep
Sign in to saveAlso known as cold vent
ocean floor area where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs
Wikidata facts
Show 2 more facts
- Commons category
- Cold seeps
- exact match
- purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_01000263
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Article
Tube worms (Lamellibrachia luymesi) are among the dominant species in one of four cold seep community types in the Gulf of Mexico.
A cold seep (sometimes called a cold vent) is an area of the ocean floor where seepage of fluids rich in hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other hydrocarbons occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. Cold does not mean that the temperature of the seepage is lower than that of the surrounding sea water; on the contrary, its temperature is often slightly higher. The "cold" is relative to the very warm (at least 60 °C or 140 °F) conditions of a hydrothermal vent. Cold seeps constitute a biome supporting several endemic species.
On the map
2 mapped locations