A
brine pool is a large area of
brine on the
ocean basin. These pools are bodies of water that have a
salinity three to five times greater than the surrounding ocean. For deep-sea brine pools, the source of the salt is the dissolution of large
salt deposits through
salt tectonics. The brine often contains high concentrations of methane, providing
energy to
chemosynthetic animals that live near the pool. These creatures are often
extremophiles. Brine pools are also known to exist on the
Antarctic Shelf where the source of brine is salt excluded during formation of sea ice. Deep-sea and Antarctic brine pools can be toxic to marine animals.