cold seep

(noun)

A cold seep (sometimes called a cold vent) is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. "Cold" does not mean temperature of seepage is lower than surrounding sea water. Actually, its temperature is often slightly higher.

Related Terms

Examples of cold seep in the following topics:

  • Cold-Seep Ecosystems

    • Cold seeps constitute a biome supporting several endemic species.
    • Types of cold seeps can be distinguished according to the depth, as shallow cold seeps and deep cold seeps.
    • Cold seeps can also be distinguished in detail, as follows: oil/gas seeps, gas seeps, methane seeps, gas hydrate seeps, brine seeps, are forming brine pools, pockmarks and mud volcanos.
    • Organisms living in cold seeps are known as extremophiles.
    • Cold seeps do not last indefinitely.

  • Ocean Floor

    • Brine pools are another seabed feature, usually connected to cold seeps.
    • Hydrothermal vents along the mid-ocean ridge spreading centers act as oases, as do their opposites, cold seeps.

  • Epsilonproteobacteria

    • There have also been numerous environmental sequences of Epsilonproteobacteria recovered from hydrothermal vents and cold seep habitats.

  • The Deep Sea and Barophilism

    • The three main sources of energy and nutrients for deep sea communities are marine snow, whale falls, and chemosynthesis at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps.

  • Hyperthermophiles from Submarine Volcanic Habitats

    • Large populations of animals can be supported by chemosynthetic secondary production at hydrothermal vents, methane clathrates, cold seeps, whale falls, and isolated cave water.

  • Oxidation of Reduced Sulfur Compounds

    • These environments include cold seeps, sulfur springs, sewage contaminated water, mud layers of lakes, and near deep hydrothermal vents.
    • Beggiatoa spp. bacterial mat at a seep on Blake Ridge, off the coast of South Carolina.

  • Protection

    • Otherwise, these dangerous chemicals would seep into our sensitive internal environment. 

  • Cold War Politics in Zaire

  • Sadat and Cold War Influences

  • Afghanistan and the Cold War