Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Gulf of Mexico: An Introductory Survey of a Seep-Dominated Seafloor Landscape

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Marine Hydrocarbon Seeps

Part of the book series: Springer Oceanography ((SPRINGEROCEAN))

Abstract

The Gulf of Mexico is home to numerous hydrocarbon seeps, brine lakes and mud volcanoes that provide habitats for hydrocarbon-dependent microbial communities; trophic linkages connect these hydrocarbon microbiota with benthic marine invertebrates and provide the foundation of complex benthic ecosystems that are ultimately sustained by hydrocarbon seepage. Sampling and reconnaissance by submersibles provide a first impression of the diversity of Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seeps, paving the way for further discoveries. This chapter provides on overview of selected hydrocarbon and brine seeps on the northern slope of the Gulf of Mexico that were visited and explored during two month-long cruises with research submersible Alvin and R/V Atlantis in 2010 and 2014.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Amos S (1987) Late Triassic-Jurassic paleogeography and origin of Gulf of Mexico Basin. AAPG Bull 71(4):419–451

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett SS, Hanor JS (1987) Dynamics of subsurface salt dissolution at the Welsh Dome, Louisiana Gulf Coast. In: Lerche I, O’Brien JJ (eds) Dynamical geology of salt and related structures. Academic Press, Orlando, pp 653–677

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bowles MW, Joye SB (2011) High rates of denitrification and nitrate removal in cold seep sediments. ISME J 5:565–567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowles MW, Samarkin VA, Bowles K, Joye SB (2011) Weak coupling between sulfate reduction and the anaerobic oxidation of methane in methane-rich seafloor sediments during ex-situ incubation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 75:500–519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowles MW, Hunter KS, Samarkin VA, Joye SB (2016) Variations in geochemical signatures and microbial activity within and between diverse cold seep habitats along the lower continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. Deep-Sea Res II 129:31–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowles MW, Samarkin VA, Hunter KS, Dowell E, Finke N, Teske AP, Girguis PR, Joye SB (2019) Remarkable capacity for anaerobic oxidation of methane at high methane concentration. Geophys Res Lett, in revision

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks JM, Kennicutt MC, Fay RR, McDonald TJ, Sassen R (1984) Thermogenic gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico. Science 223:696–698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks JM, Cox HB, Bryan WR, Kennicutt MC, Mann RG, MacDonald TJ (1986) Association of gas hydrates and oil seepage in the Gulf of Mexico. Org Geochem 10:221–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks GR, Larson RA, Flower B, Hollander D, Schwing PT, Robero I, Moore C, Reichart G-J, Jilbert T, Chanton JP, Hastings DW, Overholt WA, Marks KP, Kostka JE, Holmes CW, Hollander D (2015) Sedimentation pulse in the NE Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 DWH blowout. PLoS ONE 10:e0132341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryant RW, Bryant JR, Feeley MH, Simmons GR (1990) Physiographic and bathymetric characteristics of the continental slope, Northwest Gulf of Mexico. Geo-Mar Lett 10:182–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chanton JP, Zhao T, Rosenheim B, Joye SB, Bosman S, Brunner C, Yaeger K, Hollander D (2015) Radiocarbon tracing of the flux of petrocarbon to the sea floor associated with the Deepwater Horizon event. Environ Sci Technol 49:847–854

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen SC, Musat N, Lechtenfeld OJ, Paschke H, Schmidt M, Said N, Popp D, Calabrese F, Stryhanyuk H, Jaekel U, Zhu Y-G, Joye SB, Richnow HH, Widdel F, Musat F (2019) Anaerobic oxidation of ethane by archaea from a marine hydrocarbon seep. Nature 568:108–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conti A, D’Emidio M, Macelloni L, Lutken C, Asper V, Woolsey M, Jarnagin R (2016) Morpho-acoustic characterization of natural seepage features near the Macondo wellhead (ECOGIG site OC26, Gulf of Mexico). Deep-Sea Res II 129:53–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crespo-Medina M, Bowles MW, Samarkin VA, Hunter KS, Joye SB (2016) Microbial diversity and activity in seafloor brine lake sediments (Alaminos Canyon block 601, Gulf of Mexico). Geobiology 14:483–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’souza NA, Subramaniam A, Juhl AR, Hafez M, Chekalyuk A, Phan S, Yan B, MacDonald IR, Weber SC, Montoya JP (2016) Elevated surface chlorophyll associated with natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. Nat Geosci 9:215–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daly K, Passow U, Chanton J, Hollander D (2016) Assessing the impacts of oil-associated marine snow formation and sedimentation during and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Anthropocene 13:18–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Pineda O, MacDonald IR, Zimmer B, Shedd B, Roberts H (2010) Remote- sensing evaluation of geophysical anomaly sites in the outer continental slope, northern Gulf of Mexico. Deep-Sea Res II 57:1859–1869

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haeckel M, Suess E, Wallmann K, Rickert D (2004) Rising methane gas bubbles form massive hydrate layers at the seafloor. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 68:4335–4345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings DW, Schwing PT, Brooks GR, Larson RA, Morford JL, Roeder T, Quinn KA, Bartlett T, Romero IC, Hollander DJ (2016) Changes in sediment redox conditions following the BP DWH blowout event. Deep-Sea Res II 129:167–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoshino T, Toki T, Ijiri A, Morono Y, Machiyama H, Ashi J, Okamura K, Inagaki F (2017) Atribacteria from the subseafloor sedimentary biosphere disperse to the hydrosphere through submarine mud volcanoes. Front Microbiol 8:1135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johansen C, Todd AC, MacDonald IR (2017) Time series video analysis of bubble release processes at natural hydrocarbon seeps in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Mar Pet Geol 82:21–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joye SB (2015) Deepwater Horizon, 5 years on. Science 349:592–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joye SB, MacDonald IR, Montoya JP, Peccini M (2005) Geophysical and geochemical signatures of Gulf of Mexico seafloor brines. Biogeosciences 2:295–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joye SB, Samarkin VA, Orcutt BN, MacDonald IR, Hinrichs K-U, Elvert M, Teske A, Lloyd KG, Lever MA, Montoya JP, Meile CD (2009) Metabolic variability in seafloor brines revealed by carbon and sulphur dynamics. Nat Geosci 2:349–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joye SB, Bowles MW, Samarkin VA, Hunter KS, Niemann H (2010) Biogeochemical signatures and microbial activity of different cold seep habitats along the Gulf of Mexico lower slope. Deep-Sea Res II 57:1990–2001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joye SB, Hunter KS, Medeiros P, Benitez-Nelson C, Moore WS, Asper V, Diercks A, Passow U, Yang T, Teske A, Montoya JP (2019) Soot and slime: Burning and microbial metabolism altered and transported Macondo oil from the sea surface to the seabed. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, submitted

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennicutt MC, Brooks JM, Denoux GJ (1988) Leakage of deep, reservoired petroleum to the near surface on the Gulf of Mexico continental slope. Mar Chem 24:39–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimes NE, Callaghan AV, Aktas DF, Smith WL, Sunner J, Golding B, Drozdowska M, Hazen TC, Suflita JM, Morris PJ (2013) Genomic analysis and metabolite profiling of deep-sea sediments from the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Front Microbiol 4:50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleindienst S, Grim S, Sogin M, Bracco A, Crespo-Medina M, Joye SB (2016) Diverse, rare microbial taxa responded to the Deepwater Horizon deep-sea hydrocarbon plume. ISME J 10:400–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kniemeyer O, Musat F, Sievert SM, Knittel K, Wilkes H, Blumenberg M, Michaelis W, Classen A, Bolm C, Joye SB, Widdel F (2007) Anaerobic oxidation of short-chain hydrocarbons by marine sulphate-reducing bacteria. Nature 449:898–901

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knittel K, Boetius A, Lemke A, Eilers H, Lochte K, Pfannkuche O, Linke P, Amann R (2003) Activity, distribution, and diversity of sulfate reducers and other bacteria in sediments above gas hydrate (Cascadia Margin, Oregon). Geomicrobiol J 20:269–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lapham LL, Chanton JP, Martens CS, Woolsey RJ (2008) Microbial activity in surficial sediments overlying acoustic wipe-out zones at a Gulf of Mexico cold seep. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 9:Q06001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lapham L, Chanton JP, Chapman R, Martens CS (2010) Methane under-saturated fluids in deep-sea sediments: Implications for gas hydrate stability and rates of dissolution. Earth Planet Sci Lett 298:275–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lapham LL, Wilson R, Riedel M, Paull CK, Holmes ME (2013) Temporal variability of in situ methane concentrations in gas-hydrate bearing sediments near Bullseye Vent, Northern Cascadia Margin. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 14:2445–2459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laso-Pérez R, Wegener G, Knittel K, Widdel F, Harding KJ, Krukenberg V, Meier DV, Richter M, Tegetmeyer HE, Riedel D, Richnow H-H, Adrian L, Reemtsma T, Lechtenfeld O, Musat F (2016) Thermophilic archaea activate butane via alkyl-coenzyme M formation. Nature 539:396–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lerche I, Petersen K (1995) Salt and sediment dynamics. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL

    Google Scholar 

  • Lever MA, Teske A (2015) Methane-cycling archaeal diversity in hydrothermal sediment investigated by general and group-specific functional gene and 16S rRNA gene PCR primers. Appl Environ Microbiol 81:1426–1441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin Y-S, Heuer VB, Goldhammer T, Kellermann MY, Zabel M, Hinrichs K-U (2012) Towards constraining H2 concentration in subseafloor sediment: a proposal for combined analysis by two distinct approaches. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 77:186–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Whitman WB (2008) Metabolic, phylogenetic, and ecological diversity of the methanogenic archaea. Ann NY Acad Sci 1125:171–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd KG, Lapham L, Teske A (2006) An anaerobic methane-oxidizing community of ANME-1b archaea in hypersaline Gulf of Mexico sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:7218–7230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd KG, Albert DB, Biddle JF, Chanton JP, Pizarro O, Teske A (2010) Spatial structure and activity of sedimentary microbial communities underlying a Beggiatoa spp. mat in a Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seep. PLoS ONE 5:e8738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd KG, Alperin M, Teske A (2011) Environmental evidence for net methane production and oxidation in putative Anaerobic MEthanotrophic (ANME) archaea. Environ Microbiol 13:2548–2564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald IR, Peccini MB (2009) Distinct activity phases during the recent geological history of a Gulf of Mexico mud volcano. Mar Petrol Geol 26:1824–1830

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald IR, Reilly JF, Guinasso NL et al (1990) Chemosynthetic mussels at a brine-filled pockmark in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Science 248:1096–1099

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald IR, Buthman DB, Sager WW, Peccini MB, Guinasso NL (2000) Pulsed oil discharge from a mud volcano. Geology 28:907–910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macelloni L, Brunner CA, Caruso S, Lutken CB, D’Emidio M, Lapham LL (2013) Spatial distribution of seafloor bio-geological and geochemical processes as proxies of fluid flow regime and evolution of a carbonate/hydrates mound, Woolsey Mound. Deep-Sea Res I 74:25–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason OU, Scott NM, Gonzalez A, Robbins-Pianka A, Bælum J, Kimbrel J, Bouskill NJ, Prestat E, Borglin S, Joyner DC, Fortney JL, Jurelevicius D, Stringfellow WR, Alvarez-Cohen L, Hazen TC, Knight R, Gilbert JA, Jansson JK (2014) Metagenomics reveals sediment microbial community response to Deepwater Horizon oil spill. ISME J 8:1464–1475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGee TM (2006) A seafloor observatory to monitor gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico. Leading Edge 25:644–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McHatton SC, Barry JP, Jannasch HW, Nelson DC (1996) High nitrate concentrations in vacuolate, autotrophic marine Beggiatoa spp. Appl Environ Microbiol 62:954–958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNutt MK, Chu S, Lubchenco L, Hunter T, Dreyfus G, Murawski SA, Kennedy DM (2012) Applications of science and engineering to quantify and control the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:20222–20228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills HJ, Martinez RJ, Story S, Sobecky PA (2004) Identification of members of the metabolically active microbial populations associated with Beggiatoa species mat communities from Gulf of Mexico cold-seep sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:5447–5458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitra S, Kimmel DG, Snyder J, Scalise K, McGlaughon BD, Roman MR, Jahn GL, Pierson JJ, Brandt SB, Montoya JP, Rosenbauer RJ, Lorenson TD, Wong FL, Campbell PL (2012) Macondo-1 well oil-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mesozooplankton from the northern Gulf of Mexico. Geophys Res Lett 39:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nigro LM, Hyde AS, MacGregor BJ, Teske A (2016) Phylogeography, salinity adaptations and metabolic potential of the Candidate Division KB1 Bacteria based on a partial single cell genome. Front Microbiol 7:1266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nikolaus R, Ammerman J, MacDonald IR (2003) Distinct pigmentation and trophic modes in Beggiatoa from hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. Aquatic Microb Ecol 32:85–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orcutt B, Boetius A, Elvert M, Samarkin V, Joye SB (2005) Molecular biogeochemistry of sulfate reduction, methanogenesis and oxidation of methane at Gulf of Mexico cold seeps. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 69:4267–4281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orcutt BN, Joye SB, Kleindienst S, Knittel K, Ramette A, Reitz A, Samarkin V, Treude T, Boetius A (2010) Impact of natural oil and higher hydrocarbons on microbial diversity, distribution, and activity in Gulf of Mexico cold-seep sediments. Deep Sea Res II 57:2008–2021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otte S, Kuenen JG, Nielsen LP, Pearl HW, Zopfi J, Schulz HN, Teske A, Strothmann B, Gallardo VA, Jørgensen BB (1999) Nitrogen, carbon, and sulphur metabolism in natural Thioploca samples. Appl Environ Microbiol 65:3148–3157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Passow U (2016) Formation of rapidly-sinking, oil-associated marine snow. Deep Sea Res II 129:232–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Passow U, Ziervogel K, Asper V, Diercks A (2012) Marine snow formation in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Environ Res Lett 7:035031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy CM, Arey JS, Seewald JS, Sylva SP, Lemkau KL, Nelson RK, Carmichael CA, McIntyre CP, Fenwick J, Ventura GT, Van Mooy BAS, Camilli R (2012) Composition and fate of gas and oil released to the water column during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:20229–20234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts HH, Carney RS (1997) Evidence of episodic fluid, gas, and sediment venting on the Northern Gulf of Mexico Slope. Econ Geol 92:863–879

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts HH, Aharon P, Carney R, Larkin J, Sassen R (1990) Sea floor responses to hydrocarbon seeps, Louisiana continental slope. Geo-Mar Lett 10:232–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts HH, McBride RA, Coleman J (1999) Outer shelf and slope geology of the Gulf of Mexico: an overview. In: Kumpf H, Steidinger K, Sherman K (eds) The Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystems: assessment, sustainability, and management. Blackwell Science, pp 93–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts HH, Fisher CR, Brooks JM, Bernard B, Carney RS, Cordes E, Shedd W, Hunt J Jr, Joye SB, MacDonald IR, Morrison C (2007) Exploration of the deep Gulf of Mexico slope using DSV Alvin: site selection and geologic character. Gulf Coast Assoc Geol Soc Trans 57:647–659

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts HH, Feng D, Joye SB (2010a) Cold-seep carbonates of the middle and lower continental slope, northern Gulf of Mexico. Deep-Sea Res II 57:2040–2054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts HH, Shedd W, Hunt J (2010b) Dive site geology: DSV ALVIN (2006) and ROV JASON II (2007) dives to the middle-lower continental slope, northern Gulf of Mexico. Deep Sea Res II 57:1837–1858

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saager WW, Lee CS, Macdonald IR, Schroeder WW (1999) High-frequency near-bottom acoustic reflection signatures of hydrocarbon seeps on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope. Geo-Mar Lett 18:267–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salman-Carvalho V, Fadeev E, Joye SB, Teske A (2016) How clonal is clonal? Genome plasticity across multicellular segments of a “Candidatus” Marithrix filament from sulfidic, briny seafloor sediments in the Gulf of Mexico. Front Microbiol 7:1173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sassen R, Roberts H, Aharon R, Larkin J, Chinn E, Carney R (1993) Chemosynthetic bacterial mats at cold hydrocarbon seeps Gulf of Mexico continental slope. Org Geochem 20:77–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sassen R, Joye S, Sweet ST, DeFreitas DA, Milkov AV, MacDonald IR (1999) Thermogenic gas hydrates and hydrocarbon gases in complex chemosynthetic communities Gulf of Mexico continental slope. Org Geochem 30:485–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schreiber L, Holler T, Knittel K, Meyerdierks A, Amann R (2010) Identification of the dominant sulfate-reducing bacterial partner of anaerobic methanotrophs of the ANME-2 clade. Environ Microbiol 12:2327–2340

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens EN, Bailey JV, Flood BE, Jones DS, Gilhooly WP III, Joye SB, Teske A, Mason OU (2015) Barite encrustation of benthic sulfide-oxidizing bacteria at a marine cold seep. Geobiology 13:588–603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki D, Li Z, Cui X, Zhang C, Katayama A (2014) Reclassification of Desulfobacterium anilini as Desulfatiglans anilini comb. nov. within Desulfatiglans gen. nov., and description of a 4-chlorophenol-degrading sulfate-reducing bacterium, Desulfatiglans parachlorophenolica sp. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64:3081–3086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teske A, Salman V (2014) The family Beggiatoaceae. In: Rosenberg E, DeLong EF, Thompson F, Lory S, Stackebrandt E (eds) The prokaryotes – gammaproteobacteria. The Prokaryotes, 4th edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, Chapter 6, pp 93–134. https://www.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38922-1_290

  • Teske A (2019) Hydrocarbon-degrading microbial communities in natural oil seeps. In: McGenity TJ (ed) Handbook of hydrocarbon and lipid microbiology. Microbial communities utilizing hydrocarbons and lipids: members, metagenomic and ecophysiology. Springer

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres ME, Wallmann K, Tréhu AM, Bohrmann G, Borowski WS, Tomaru H (2004) Gas hydrate growth, methane transport, and chloride enrichment at the southern summit of Hydrate Ridge, Cascadia margin off Oregon. Earth Planet Sci Lett 226:225–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood S, Lapham L, Teske A, Lloyd KG (2016) Microbial community structure and methane-cycling activity of subsurface sediments at Mississippi Canyon 118 before the Deepwater Horizon Disaster. Deep-Sea Res II 129:148–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Capellen P, Viollier E, Roychoudhury A, Clark L, Ingall E, Lowe K, Dichristina T (1998) Biogeochemical cycles of manganese and iron at the oxic-anoxic transition of a stratified marine basin (Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico). Environ Sci Technol 32:2931–2939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wankel SD, Joye SB, Samarkin VA, Shah SR, Friedrich G, Melas-Kyriazi J, Girguis PR (2010) New constraints on methane fluxes and rates of anaerobic methane oxidation in a Gulf of Mexico brine pool via in situ mass spectrometry. Deep-Sea Res II 57:2022–2029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widdel F, Rabus R (2001) Anaerobic biodegradation of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons. Curr Opin Biotechnol 12:259–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang T, Speare K, McKay LJ, MacGregor BJ, Joye SB, Teske A (2016a) Distinct bacterial communities in surficial seafloor sediments following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout. Front Microbiol 7:1384

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang T, Nigro LM, Gutierrez T, D’Ambrosio L, Joye SB, Highsmith R, Teske A (2016b) Pulsed blooms and persistent oil-degrading bacterial populations in the water column during and after the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Deep-Sea Res II 129:282–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhuang G, Elling F, Nigro LM, Samarkin V, Joye SB, Teske A, Hinrichs K-U (2016) Multiple evidence for methylotrophic methanogenesis as the dominant methanogenic pathway in hypersaline sediments from the Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 187:1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziervogel K, McKay LJ, Rhodes B, Osburn CL, Dickson-Brown J, Arnosti C , Teske A (2012) Microbial activities and dissolved organic matter dynamics in oil-contaminated surface seawater from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site. PLoS One 7(4):e34816

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3300, USA

    Andreas Teske

  2. University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602-3636, USA

    Samantha B. Joye

Authors
  1. Andreas Teske
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Samantha B. Joye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Teske .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Andreas Teske

  2. Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany

    Verena Carvalho

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Teske, A., Joye, S.B. (2020). The Gulf of Mexico: An Introductory Survey of a Seep-Dominated Seafloor Landscape. In: Teske, A., Carvalho, V. (eds) Marine Hydrocarbon Seeps. Springer Oceanography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34827-4_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation