title: A hydrothermal seep on the Costa Rica margin: middle ground in a continuum of reducing ecosystems.
abstract: Upon their initial discovery, hydrothermal vents and methane seeps were considered to be related but distinct ecosystems, with different distributions, geomorphology, temperatures, geochemical properties and mostly different species. However, subsequently discovered vents and seep systems have blurred this distinction. Here, we report on a composite, hydrothermal seep ecosystem at a subducting seamount on the convergent Costa Rica margin that represents an intermediate between vent and seep ecosystems. Diffuse flow of shimmering, warm fluids with high methane concentrations supports a mixture of microbes, animal species, assemblages and trophic pathways with vent and seep affinities. Their coexistence reinforces the continuity of reducing environments and exemplifies a setting conducive to interactive evolution of vent and seep biota.
authors.affiliation: Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093-0218, USA. llevin@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.forename: Victoria J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Orphan
authors.forename: Greg W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Rouse
authors.forename: Anthony E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Rathburn
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ussler
authors.forename: Geoffrey S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Shana K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Goffredi
authors.forename: Elena M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Waren
authors.forename: Benjamin M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Grupe
authors.forename: Grayson
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chadwick
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Strickrott
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049872:Bivalvia; D003364:Costa Rica; D017753:Ecosystem; D049851:Gastropoda; D060086:Hydrothermal Vents; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D010944:Plants; D012623:Seawater
chemical_list: D008697:Methane