Cold seep formation from salt diapir-controlled deep biosphere oases.

Deep sea cold seeps are sites where hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other hydrocarbon-rich fluids vent from the ocean floor. They are an important component of Earth's carbon cycle in which subsurface hydrocarbons form the energy source for highly diverse benthic micro- and macro-fauna in what is otherwise vast and spartan sea scape. Passive continental margin cold seeps are typically attributed to the migration of hydrocarbons generated from deeply buried source rocks.