Dr. Sager has already visited the area of the gulf where
the NR-1 submarine will be for this Reefs of the Gulf project. From a surface
ship in 1997, he and his colleagues created side-scan sonar images of the
seafloor there that revealed a rich bounty of features.
The records show mud mounds formed by fluids being expelled
from the bottom, mounds of carbonate precipitates that are related to fluid
seepage, brine lakes, faults, and sediment flows. In one area he found evidence
for massive mudflows emanating from a probable brine-lake atop a mud mound.
In the area where most previous studies of chemosynthetic
organisms took place, he confirmed eleven additional mud mounds like the
famous Bush Hill chemosynthetic site. The sonar data imply that as many
as 50 of these features exist in the area.
The data also showed a network of faults extending from
one salt dome to another and ringing the basins between them. Along one
fault complex there are numerous places where sediment flows emanate and
extend downslope. These are probably sites of significant hydrocarbon venting,
but we'll have to visit them and take a look from NR1 to find out! |
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