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Discovery of an extensive deep-sea fossil serpulid reef associated with a cold seep, Santa Monica Basin, California
Georgieva, M Paull, CK Little, CTS McGann, M Sahy, D Condon, D Lundsten, L Pewsey, J Caress, DW Vrijenhoek, RC
Georgieva, M
Paull, CK
Little, CTS
McGann, M
Sahy, D
Condon, D
Lundsten, L
Pewsey, J
Caress, DW
Vrijenhoek, RC
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2019-03-19
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2019-03-19
Subject Terms
tubeworm
last glacial maximum
gas hydrate
vesicomyidae
Annelida
paleobiology
eastern Pacific
methane seep
last glacial maximum
gas hydrate
vesicomyidae
Annelida
paleobiology
eastern Pacific
methane seep
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Abstract
Multibeam bathymetric mapping of the Santa Monica Basin in the eastern Pacific
has revealed the existence of a number of elevated bathymetric features, or mounds,
harboring cold seep communities. During 2013–2014, mounds at 600 m water
depth were observed for the first time and sampled by Monterey Bay Aquarium
Research Institute’s ROV Doc Ricketts. Active cold seeps were found, but surprisingly
one of these mounds was characterized by massive deposits composed of fossil
serpulid worm tubes (Annelida: Serpulidae) exhibiting various states of mineralization
by authigenic carbonate. No living serpulids with equivalent tube morphologies were
found at the site; hence the mound was termed “Fossil Hill.” In the present study,
the identity of the fossil serpulids and associated fossil community, the ages of fossils
and authigenic carbonates, the formation of the fossil serpulid aggregation, and the
geological structure of the mound are explored. Results indicate that the tubes were
most likely made by a deep-sea serpulid lineage, with radiocarbon dating suggesting
that they have a very recent origin during the Late Pleistocene, specifically to the
Last Glacial Maximum 20,000 years ago. Additional U-Th analyses of authigenic
carbonates mostly corroborate the radiocarbon dates, and also indicate that seepage
was occurring while the tubes were being formed. We also document similar, older
deposits along the approximate trajectory of the San Pedro Basin Fault. We suggest
that the serpulid tube facies formed in situ, and that the vast aggregation of these tubes
at Fossil Hill is likely due to a combination of optimal physical environmental conditions
and chemosynthetic production, which may have been particularly intense as a result of
sea-level lowstand during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Citation
Georgieva MN, Paull CK, Little CTS, McGann M, Sahy D, Condon D, Lundsten L, Pewsey J, Caress DW and Vrijenhoek RC (2019) Discovery of an Extensive Deep-Sea Fossil Serpulid Reef Associated With a Cold Seep, Santa Monica Basin, California. Front. Mar. Sci. 6:115. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00115
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Copyright © 2019 Georgieva, Paull, Little, McGann, Sahy, Condon, Lundsten, Pewsey, Caress and Vrijenhoek. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. The attached file is the published version of the article.
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2296-7745
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