Microbial systems in extreme environments and in the deep biosphere may be analogous to potential life on other planetary bodies and hence may be used to investigate the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. This book examines the mode and nature of links between geological processes and microbial activities and their significance for the origin and evolution of life on the Earth and possibly on other planets. This is a truly interdisciplinary science with societal relevance.

Seafloor fluid and gas emission has been revealed to be a geographically widespread phenomenon in recent years as researchers have discovered new off-axis hydrothermal vent fields and previously unmapped shallow (deltaic, continental shelf) and deep water cold seeps. Seafloor seep emissions play a critical role in global biogeochemical cycles, but also contribute to the development of economically important mineral deposits that are increasingly targeted for exploitation. Hydrothermal vents and cold seeps host unique microbiological and macrofaunal communities that provide clues to life on primordial Earth, and seafloor fluid and gas emissions play a complex role in microbial dispersal, ocean chemistry, plankton dynamics, and possibly global climate. This Research Topic will address the knowledge gaps about the linked chemistry, macro/microbiology, physics, and geology of seafloor emissions and explore both the economic potential and conservation efforts associated with hydrothermal vents and cold seeps.

This volume is an indispensable addition to the multidisciplinary coverage of the science of the Mediterranean Sea. The editors have gathered leading authorities from the fields of Marine Biology, Ecology, paleoclimatology, Chemical and Physical Oceanography, Zoology, Botany, Aquatic Photosynthesis, Socioeconomics, Mariculture, Mediterranean History and Science of Humanity. Beginning with the birth of the Mediterranean Sea and its myths. From coral to fish, an introduction is given to its major inhabitants of plants and animals past and present. The chapters illustrate how organisms interact as part of the structure and function of the Sea's main ecosystems. The rise of the Mediterranean as the cradle of the Western Civilization leads to a discourse on the status of human interaction with the sea. Accelerating global climate change, water warming, ocean acidification and sea level rise, and analyses of their effects on key organisms, entire ecosystems and human socioeconomics are given. Forecasting and predictions are presented taking into account different future scenarios from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change). The volume is richly illustrated in color, with an extensive bibliography. A valuable addition to the limited literature in the field, offering up-to-date broad coverage merging science and humanities.​

Geology of the China Seas represents the first English-language synthesis of the available research into the geology of the South and East China Seas. Among the marginal basins worldwide, these areas have been the focus of extensive research activities in the last three decades, and are now among the global hot spots in hydrocarbon explorations and scientific investigations. The region is experiencing rapid economic development with the offshore petroleum industry providing approximately one third of the domestic hydrocarbon production for mainland China. Gas hydrates have been successfully recovered from the China Seas for the first time. Over the years, many volumes on the geology of the China Seas have been published in Chinese. Although an increasing number of papers in English have appeared recently, the majority deal with local or regional paleo-environment and sedimentology, and are scattered in different journals. This book brings together this rich data in one resource, particularly that generated by Chinese marine geologists and petroleum geologists, and provides the very first synthesis of the geology off China. - The first systematic summary of the geology of the China Seas - Includes comprehensive coverage of the South China Sea and the East China Sea, including the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf - Reviews hundreds of Chinese publications on marine and petroleum geology not currently accessible to the international community

What do we know about Mediterranean Cold (Deep)-Water coral ecosystems? In this book, specialists offer answers and insights with a series of chapters and short papers about the paleoecology, biology, physiology and ecology of the corals and other organisms that comprise these ecosystems. Structured on a temporal axis—Past, Present and Future—the reviews and selected study cases cover the cold and deep coral habitats known to date in the Mediterranean Basin. This book illustrates and explains the deep Mediterranean coral habitats that might have originated similar thriving ecosystems in today’s Atlantic Ocean.

During the last decades there has been an increasing evidence of drastic changes in marine ecosystems due to human-induced impacts, especially on benthic ecosystems. The so called “animal forests” are currently showing a dramatic loss of biomass and biodiversity all over the world. These communities are dominated by sessile suspension feeder organisms (such as sponges, corals, gorgonians, bivalves, etc.) that generate three-dimensional structures, similar to the trees in the terrestrial forest. The animal forest provide several ecosystem services such as food, protection and nursery to the associated fauna, playing an important role in the local hydrodynamic and biogeochemical cycles near the sea floor and acting also as carbon sinks. The present book focus its attention on these three dimensional animal structures including, for the first time, all the different types of animal forests of the world in a single volume.