OCS Study MMS 95 - Data Center

selected from the known list of communities on the basis of community type andgeographic location .Methods for the remote sensing of chemosynthetic communities, many ofwhich were developed or refined during this Study, can be applied to improveunderstanding of the distribution of hydrocarbon seepage . The distribution ofmacro oil seepage revealed by satellite remote sensing demonstrates that theconditions required for formation of hydrocarbon seep communities extend wellbeyond the artificial limits imposed by the exploration tools previously used . It isquite defensible to assume that hydrocarbon seep communities occur to depths of2000 m or greater across much of the northern Gulf of Mexico slope .2-22