I found this article on "asphalt volcanoes" "discovered" in the Santa Barbara channel. Tis an ancient oil leak much like human induced bp flow. I find it interesting that scientists where unaware of their existence. I have found tar rocks of obviously prehistoric origin containing entombed snails and bivalves along santa barbaras beaches and in pleistocene sediment layers. I have also seen evidence of asphalt flow in the carpenteria cliffs.
Although the tar globs and oil slick common to coal oil point in goleta might be explained away by the proximity of the offshore oil drill, the little bubbles I always find seeping out of the sand while I'm snorkeling can be none other than natural gas flow.
Obviously these "asphalt volcanoes" are very much alive and their relative youth geologically (30,000 years old compared to the 250 million year old super continent Pangea) means more methane and oil will be put on the surface to come.
Perhaps the oil spill in the Gulf was not such a catastrophe after all?
All the chemicals BP put in the ocean to "break up" the oil is a different story all together.
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