Аннотация:The northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope has been the site of a number of recent discoveries that may dramatically alter our understanding of biological and chemical processes on the continental slope. The Geochemical and Environmental Research Group at Texas A&M University reported in Science last year (vol. 225, p. 409, 1984) the first occurrence of thermogenic gas hydrates in deep ocean sediments. The hydrate discovery sites were located at water depths of 530‐560 m on the Louisiana slope. These hydrates, obtained by piston coring, ranged in size from minute crystals to objects several centimeters in diameter and were composed of methane through butane hydrocarbon gases. The hydrates were often dispersed in carbonate rubble within the cores and were distributed from the top of the core to a sediment depth of at least several meters.
