Friday, July 22, 2005

Isolated ecosystems

To add to the Antarctic aquifer(s), a "cold methane vent" system previously existed (and still exists, for a little while) under the Larsen Ice Shelf. I had wondered about the supply of energy to deep/isolated underwater ecosystems that weren't in the vicinity of black smokers. It appears that in a number of cases, including what was under Larsen, a methane vent provides a steady supply of energy.

Man is not the only animal to draw energy from fossil fuel :-)

(Paper, published in the American Geophysical Union's newspaper "Eos". via Wired)