More than two thousand mounds of mysterious asphalt were discovered off of the coast of Angola.
This is the first time naturally-occurring asphalt mounds have been found on this side of the Atlantic, and they were observed to be home to a number of deep-water creatures, the National Oceanography Centre reported. The mounds range from the size of a football to a small hill, and are formed from hydrocarbons migrating across the subsurface salt structures. The research team noticed at least 21 types of life within these structures including soft sponges, octopi and fish.
The mounds were discovered by the oil company BP, who were looking for oil reserves off of the coast of Angola. Their initial seabed scans revealed unusual structures, which were later investigated by diving robots. Side-scan sonar revealed 2,254 mounds in an area about the size of a small town. BP technical experts sent the images to scientists in Southampton in what is a "long-running collaboration" between the oil industry and marine scientists at NOC.
"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," said lead author of the study, Daniel Jones from NOC.
The finding could help researchers gain insight into marine biodiversity because this is the first time asphalt mounds have been able to be studied in such great detail.
The scientific study entitled "Asphalt Mounds and Associated Biota on the Angolan Margin" was jointly authored by NOC, BP and their subcontractor, Fugro.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers.
