The crude oil from the "Macondo" well, which has been spilling out and damaging the Gulf of Mexico since April, contains around 40 percent methane gas, compared with about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits. This can prove fatal.

According to The Huffington Post, scientists are now warning that gases such as methane, hydrogen sulfide and benzene, along with oil, contribute heavily to oxygen depletion in the water and are beginning to suffocate marine life creating vast "dead zones."

But geologists are predicting something even worse. The methane may burst its way through the bottom of the ocean and would manifest first via fissures or cracks appearing on the ocean floor near the path of least resistance - the damaged well head. Evidence of fissures opening up on the seabed have been captured by the robotic midget submarines working to repair and contain the ruptured well. Smaller, independent plumes have also appeared outside the nearby radius of the bore hole. When reviewing video tapes of the live BP feeds, one can see in the tapes of mid-June that there is oil spewing up from visible fissions.

Furthermore, the stretching and compression of the earth's crust causes minor cracking or faults, and the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico has many such fault areas. Fault areas run along the Gulf of Mexico and in places like Mexico, South and East Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the extreme western Florida Panhandle. The close coupling of new fissures and cracks with natural fault areas could prove to be lethal.