Asphalt Seeps in the Deep Sea #shorts

at around 3 000 meters below sea level scientists discovered that vast areas of the sea floor were covered with swathes of asphalt these asphalt seeps formed when petroleum deposits deep beneath the sea floor leaked out into the water lighter components rose up towards the surface and left behind denser hydrocarbons that solidified on the seabed the result is an underwater landscape that resembles a cooled lava field but despite seeming inhospitable a unique community of organisms has been found living on and around the asphalt in 2014 a sonar showed a cluster of structures at a depth of 1900 meters splayed out over the seabed like a flower later dubbed atar Lily this was discovered to be an extrusion of asphalt