The Pescadero Basin is a submarine depression located on the seabed at the southern end of the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

off the coast of the Mexican state of

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

. The basin results from the activity of one of the several spreading centers in the Gulf. The basin is linked to the Pescadero Fault to the south, and the Atl Fault in the north, two of the transform faults of the

Gulf of California Rift Zone The Gulf of California Rift Zone (GCRZ) is the northernmost extension of the East Pacific Rise which extends some from the mouth of the Gulf of California to the southern terminus of the San Andreas Fault at the Salton Sink. The GCRZ is an i ...

, i. e. the northern extension of the eastern Pacific Ridge. Studies released around 2015 have revealed that the Pescadero Basin is a hydrothermal field rich in particular in

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, (), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word "carbonate" may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group ...

chimneys, the only ones so far discovered in the Pacific Ocean, and thus in the typical living species that inhabit these environments.Dave Clague & Dave Caress
MBARI researchers discover deepest known high-temperature hydrothermal vents in Pacific Ocean
MBARI (

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is a private, non-profit oceanographic research center in Moss Landing, California. MBARI was founded in 1987 by David Packard, and is primarily funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foun ...

). June 2, 2015.

References

''Continent-Ocean Transition Across the Alarcon Basin, Gulf of California from Seismic Reflection and Refraction Data'', Sutherland et al (2003)
Depressions of Mexico Geology of Mexico Plate tectonics {{tectonics-stub