Biodiversity of Cold Seep Ecosystems Along the European Margins

Vanreusel, Ann; Andersen, Ann C.; Boetius, Antje; Connelly, Douglas P.; Ravara, Ascensão; Decker, Carole; Hilario, Ana Belén Ríos; Kormas, Konstantinos Ar.; Maignien, Loïs; Olu, Karine; Pachiadaki, Maria; Ritt, Bénédicte; Rodrigues, Clara F.; Sarrazin, Jozée; Tyler, Paul A.; Gaever, Saskia Van; Vanneste, Heleen

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2009.12

Cited by 119 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

103

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Major colonizers of present-day cold-seep areas include chemosynthetic marine bivalves (members of the families Mytilidae, Vesicomyidae, Lucinidae, Solemyidae, and Thyasiridae), followed by vestimentiferan worms, as well as microbial mats (Sibuet and Olu, 1998;Levin, 2005;Vanreusel et al, 2009). Together with the skeletal carbonate produced by mussels and associated chemosynthetic shelly organisms, authigenic carbonate production is mediated mostly by bacteria.…”

Section: Comparison With Other Fossil Cold-seep Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Present-day cold-seep areas are colonized by chemosynthetic marine organisms and by microbial mats (Sibuet and Olu, 1998;Levin, 2005;Vanreusel et al, 2009). These chemosynthetic communities are characterized by low diversity (with only a few species dominating) but high-density populations Sibuet and Olu, 1998;Levin, 2005;Hein et al, 2006;MacDonald et al, 2010).…”

Section: Origin Of the El Alcor Carbonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

An enigmatic kilometer-scale concentration of small mytilids (Late Miocene, Guadalquivir Basin, S Spain)

Aguirre

Braga

Martín

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Upper Miocene heterozoan carbonates crop out extensively in a NE-SW-trending belt (42 km long and 1.5-8 km wide) along the so-called El Alcor topographic high, from Carmona to Dos Hermanas (Seville, S Spain). These carbonates formed at the southern active margin of the Guadalquivir Basin, the foreland basin of the Betic Cordillera.They change to marls basinward (NE) and to sands landward (SE and SW). Therefore, carbonate production was constrained to a limited area in an otherwise siliciclastic shelf.The carbonates (up to 40 m thick) overlie a gradually coarsening-upward succession of marls followed by silts and sandstones. The carbonate sequence can be divided into three subunits corresponding, from bottom to top, to lowstand, transgressive, and highstands system tracts deposits. The lower subunit, exhibiting extensive trough crossbedding, is interpreted as a shallow-water bar deposit. The intermediate subunit onlaps underlying sediments and was deposited in deeper, low-turbulence conditions. The upper subunit deposits accumulated in a well-oxygenated outer platform based on benthic foraminiferal assemblages. The presence of hummocky and swaley crossstratification in these latter deposits suggests that they were affected by storms.Pervasive fluid-escape structures are also observed throughout the carbonates.The three subunits consist of bioclastic packstones to rudstones made up of abundant fragments of small mytilids. Isotopic data from serpulid polychaete Ditrupa tubes show 13 C-depleted values (up to -16.1‰), whereas  18 O yields normal marine values. Additional isotopic data on shells of scallops, oysters, and small mussels, as well as bulk sediment, show diagenetic alterations. Based on actualistic examples of massive concentrations of mussels, the nearly monospecific composition of the El Alcor deposits, together with negative  13 C values of Ditrupa tubes, indicates that cold seeps A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T

show abstract

Section: Comparison With Other Fossil Cold-seep Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Origin Of the El Alcor Carbonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An enigmatic kilometer-scale concentration of small mytilids (Late Miocene, Guadalquivir Basin, S Spain)

Aguirre

Braga

Martín

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We hypo thesized that the benthic structure and biodiversity at the Svalbard cold seeps would be characterized by low diversity, high abundance and high biomass, similar to cold seeps in other parts of the world (Dubilier et al 2008, Vanreusel et al 2009, Cordes et al 2010, Boetius & Wenzhofer 2013. These Arctic seeps occur at shallower depths than most cold seep systems and may expand if ocean warming drives increased gas hydrate melting and sub-seabed fluid release.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seabed emissions from vents and seeps have been discovered worldwide from shallow to hadal depths along active and passive marginal zones (Foucher et al 2009, Vanreusel et al 2009). Gas-saturated fluids, hydrocarbons, or gases are characteristic at vents and seeps and can be released from dissociating gas hydrates or reduced compounds stored in subseabed reservoirs (Levin 2005, Vanreusel et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gas-saturated fluids, hydrocarbons, or gases are characteristic at vents and seeps and can be released from dissociating gas hydrates or reduced compounds stored in subseabed reservoirs (Levin 2005, Vanreusel et al 2009). Gas hydrates are crystalline solids that enclose natural gas such as methane and are stable at high pressure and low temperatures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Arctic cold seeps in marine methane hydrate environments: impacts on shelf macrobenthic community structure offshore Svalbard

Åström¹,

Carroll²,

Ambrose³

et al. 2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cold seeps are sites where hydrocarbons, sulfide and other reduced compounds emanate from the seabed, providing the setting to fuel chemoautotrophic production. Microbial assemblages convert these com - ). The presence of obligate seep-associated faunal taxa demonstrates that chemoautotrophic production, fueled by methane and sulfur, influences benthic communities at these seeps. Further, total biomass was significantly higher at seep-impacted stations compared to controls (mean = 20.7 vs. 9.8 g wet weight sample −1 ), regardless of region. Four methane seep-influenced samples showed clear indications of seep impact, with reduced diversity and with a few species dominating, compared to controls. Our results demonstrate that the effect of methane seeps on the Svalbard shelf benthic community are highly localized (i.e. meter scale), reflecting strong gradients associated with the point-source impacts of individual seeps. Regional differences and the restricted spatial extent of focused emissions likely drive the observed complexity and heterogeneity at Svalbard cold seeps. These results provide key baseAmerican plaice Hippoglossoides platessoides in a dense field of chemosymbiotic polychaetes at a Svalbard cold seep. Photo: CAGE OPEN PEN ACCESS CCESSline observations in a high-Arctic location that is likely to be influenced by warming sea temperatures, which may lead to increased seabed methane release.

show abstract

Bivalve shell horizons in seafloor pockmarks of the last glacial‐interglacial transition: a thousand years of methane emissions in the Arctic Ocean

Ambrose

Panieri

Schneider

et al. 2015

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We studied discrete bivalve shell horizons in two gravity cores from seafloor pockmarks on the Vestnesa Ridge (∼1200 m water depth) and western Svalbard (79°00′ N, 06°55′ W) to provide insight into the temporal and spatial dynamics of seabed methane seeps. The shell beds, dominated by two genera of the family Vesicomyidae: Phreagena s.l. and Isorropodon sp., were 20–30 cm thick and centered at 250–400 cm deep in the cores. The carbon isotope composition of inorganic (δ13C from −13.02‰ to +2.36‰) and organic (δ13C from −29.28‰ to −21.33‰) shell material and a two‐end member mixing model indicate that these taxa derived between 8% and 43% of their nutrition from chemosynthetic bacteria. In addition, negative δ13C values for planktonic foraminifera (−6.7‰ to −3.1‰), concretions identified as methane‐derived authigenic carbonates, and pyrite‐encrusted fossil worm tubes at the shell horizons indicate a sustained paleo‐methane seep environment. Combining sedimentation rates with 14C ages for bivalve material from the shell horizons, we estimate the horizons persisted for about 1000 years between approximately 17,707 and 16,680 years B.P. (corrected). The seepage event over a 1000 year time interval was most likely associated with regional stress‐related faulting and the subsequent release of overpressurized fluids.

show abstract

Biodiversity of Cold Seep Ecosystems Along the European Margins

Cited by 119 publications

References 49 publications

An enigmatic kilometer-scale concentration of small mytilids (Late Miocene, Guadalquivir Basin, S Spain)

An enigmatic kilometer-scale concentration of small mytilids (Late Miocene, Guadalquivir Basin, S Spain)

Arctic cold seeps in marine methane hydrate environments: impacts on shelf macrobenthic community structure offshore Svalbard

Bivalve shell horizons in seafloor pockmarks of the last glacial‐interglacial transition: a thousand years of methane emissions in the Arctic Ocean

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About