  An analysis of 44 GHz VLA observations of the z = 1.574 radio-loud quasar
3C318 has revealed emission from the redshifted J = 1 - 0 transition of the CO
molecule and spatially resolved the 6.3 kpc radio jet associated with the
quasar at 115 GHz rest-frame. The continuum-subtracted line emitter is
spatially offset from the quasar nucleus by 0.33" (2.82 kpc in projection).
This spatial offset has a significance of >8-sigma and, together with a
previously published -400 km/s velocity offset measured in the J = 2 - 1 CO
line relative to the systemic redshift of the quasar, rules out a circumnuclear
starburst or molecular gas ring and suggests that the quasar host galaxy is
either undergoing a major merger with a gas-rich galaxy or is otherwise a
highly disrupted system. If the merger scenario is correct then the event may
be in its early stages, acting as the trigger for both the young radio jets in
the quasar and a starburst in the merging galaxy. The total molecular gas mass
in the spatially offset line emitter as measured from the ground-state CO line
M_H2 = 3.7 (+/-0.4) x 10^10 (alpha_CO/0.8) M_solar. Assuming that the
line-emitter can be modelled as a rotating disk, an inclination-dependent upper
limit is derived for its dynamical mass M_dyn sin^2(i) < 3.2 x 10^9 M_solar,
suggesting that for M_H2 to remain less than M_dyn the inclination angle must
be i < 16 degrees. The far infrared and CO luminosities of 246 extragalactic
systems are collated from the literature for comparison. The high molecular gas
content of 3C318 is consistent with that of the general population of high
redshift quasars and sub-millimetre galaxies.
