U.VA. RESEARCHER HELPS IDENTIFY NEW SPECIES

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA., July 30 -- University of Virginia
scientist
Stephen A. Macko is part of a team that recently discovered an
apparent new
species of ice worms, described in the
enclosed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) press
release.  The worms were found on gas hydrates, little-understood
entities
of frozen methane.
	A professor of geochemistry in U.Va.'s environmental sciences
department, Macko says the worms appear to thrive in an environment
with
oil and gas seepage.
	"What's unusual about the discovery is that the worms appear
to be
grazing on the most unappetizing thing imaginable -- frozen methane,"
he
said.  Methane, and also the oil, in gas hydrates would normally be
considered inhospitable to living organisms.
	Macko will study stable isotopes in the worms in an effort to
determine how their ecosystem may influence gas hydrates.
            Macko, who is attending a conference this week in San
Diego,
can be reached through Friday, Aug. 1, at his hotel, (619) 696-0234.
Upon
his return to U.Va. on Aug. 4, he can be reached at (804) 924-6849 or
(804)
982-2967.