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Scientists examine mysterious tar mounds in the West African deep

ocean
Date: November 7, 2014

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Source: National Oceanography Centre

Summary: More than two thousand mounds of asphalt harboring a wealth of deepwater creatures have been discovered up to two kilometers deep, off the
coast of Angola. Scientists have been examining the images and data
captured at the site to build an intriguing picture of the life and geology
of this underwater area. The naturally-occurring asphalt mounds are
made up of the same substance that covers our roads.

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Blobfish around an asphalt mound.
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[Click to enlarge image]

ore than two thousand mounds of asphalt harbouring a wealth of

deep-water creatures have been discovered up to two kilometres
deep, off the coast of Angola. In a study published in the journal DeepSea Research 1, scientists at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
have been examining the images and data captured at the site to build an
intriguing picture of the life and geology of this underwater area.
The naturally-occurring asphalt mounds are made up of
the same substance that covers our roads. They range
in size from single football-sized blobs to small hills
several hundred metres across. It is the first time that
these seabed asphalt mounds have been found on this
side of the Atlantic -- until now these features had only
been seen in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of
California. These deep-sea 'slow tar volcanoes' are
associated with flows of oil from within the sediment
and are formed from hydrocarbons migrating around
subsurface salt structures.
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mounds is home to at least 21 types of deep-water creatures, including large sponges,

soft-corals, octopus and fish. Many more common deep-water animals, such as the
blobfish and sea cucumbers also live near the mounds. This is a greater number of
species than had previously been thought and important information for scientists
when predicting biodiversity levels in similar areas of ocean.
The distinct mounds of asphalt were discovered by the oil company BP, who were
carrying out exploration for oil reserves off Angola. Their initial surveys of the seafloor of
these areas of huge oil reserves revealed some unusual surface features, which were
subsequently investigated using underwater robots. In the area of seabed investigated,
which was around the size of the Isle of Wight, a total of 2254 mounds were identified
by side-scan sonar, covering a total area of 3.7 square kilometres of seafloor, about
the area of a small town.
BP technical experts subsequently sent the deep-sea images to scientists in
Southampton as part of a long-running collaboration between the oil industry and
marine scientists at NOC.
Lead author of the study, Daniel Jones from NOC, said: "This exciting discovery was a
great example of collaboration between oil companies and marine scientists. By
working together as a team, we used the industrial data and expertise to get a much
better understanding of these important systems, which will be of great value both to
the scientists, but also to the BP environmental management teams."

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The scientific study entitled Asphalt mounds and associated biota on the Angolan
margin was jointly authored by NOC, BP and their subcontractor, Fugro. The data for
the paper were provided by BP Exploration (Angola) Limited as the operator of block
31 and associated partners.
It is the first time that asphalt mounds have been studied in such detail and the study's
findings will help with future predictions of seabed patterns, rock types and habitat in
similar areas of ocean.

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1. Daniel O.B. Jones, Anne Walls, Michael Clare, Mike S. Fiske, Richard J. Weiland,
Robert OBrien, Daniel F. Touzel. Asphalt mounds and associated biota on the
Angolan margin. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers,
2014; 94: 124 DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2014.08.010
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National Oceanography Centre. "Scientists examine mysterious tar mounds in the

West African deep ocean." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 November 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141107091536.htm>.

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