1984/11/23 by C. K. Paull, Barbara Hecker, R.F. Commeau +7 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Cephalopods and Marine Biology #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Escarpment #Hydrothermal vent #Geology #Ridge #Abyssal zone #Fauna #Oceanography #Cretaceous #Paleontology #Abyssal plain #Submarine canyon #Continental margin #Chemosynthesis #Seabed #Continental shelf #Ecology #Hydrothermal circulation #Sediment #Biology
paper · doi:10.1126/science.226.4677.965
openalex publication_date 1984/11/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Dense biological communities of large epifaunal taxa similar to those found along ridge crest vents at the East Pacific Rise were discovered in the abyssal Gulf of Mexico. These assemblages occur on a passive continental margin at the base of the Florida Escarpment, the interface between the relatively impermeable hemipelagic clays of the distal Mississippi Fan and the jointed Cretaceous limestone of the Florida Platform. The fauna apparently is nourished by sulfide rich hypersaline waters seeping out at near ambient temperatures onto the sea floor.