Distribution and Acoustic Characteristics of Shallow Gas in the Korea Strait Shelf Mud off SE Korea

Shallow gas in the Korea Strait shelf mud (KSSM) off SE Korea, revealed by high-resolution subbottom profiles, is associated with acoustic blanking, acoustic turbidity, seepages with plumes in the water column, and seafloor depressions. The acoustic blanking, characterized by strong, consistent top reflection and wipeout below, is most dominant. The seaward edge of the acoustic blanking zone generally coincides with the 100-m water-depth contour, suggesting that the water depth (the pressure) may control the distribution of shallow gas. The acoustic turbidity, characterized by diffuse top reflection, is a dark smear, partially blanking the data below. The seepages with plumes, characterized by vertical smearing and disturbed seafloor, are seen only along the shallowest, landward edge of the acoustic blanking zone. This may suggest that the decreased gas solubility at shallow water depths, caused by the lowered pressure, increases the volume of free gas in the sediments, facilitating the gas escape. The seafloor depressions, interpreted as pockmarks, are accompanied by cone-shaped acoustic masking, which is probably the reflection from a narrow vent of gas. The gas-related acoustic anomalies appear to occur mostly in the upper, recent mud of the KSSM. Neither permeable beds nor faults, which can act as vertical migration pathways for deep thermogenic gas, are evident in the recent mud. We interpret that the bacterial degradation of organic matter in situ is the main source for the gas in the KSSM. The upwelling off SE Korea may be an important source for the increased organic matter in the area.     

Distribution and Acoustic Characteristics of Shallow Gas in the Korea Strait Shelf Mud off SE Korea

Shallow gas in the Korea Strait shelf mud (KSSM) off SE Korea, revealed by high-resolution subbottom profiles, is associated with acoustic blanking, acoustic turbidity, seepages with plumes in the water column, and seafloor depressions. The acoustic blanking, characterized by strong, consistent top reflection and wipeout below, is most dominant. The seaward edge of the acoustic blanking zone generally coincides with the 100-m water-depth contour, suggesting that the water depth (the pressure) may control the distribution of shallow gas. The acoustic turbidity, characterized by diffuse top reflection, is a dark smear, partially blanking the data below. The seepages with plumes, characterized by vertical smearing and disturbed seafloor, are seen only along the shallowest, landward edge of the acoustic blanking zone. This may suggest that the decreased gas solubility at shallow water depths, caused by the lowered pressure, increases the volume of free gas in the sediments, facilitating the gas escape. The seafloor depressions, interpreted as pockmarks, are accompanied by cone-shaped acoustic masking, which is probably the reflection from a narrow vent of gas. The gas-related acoustic anomalies appear to occur mostly in the upper, recent mud of the KSSM. Neither permeable beds nor faults, which can act as vertical migration pathways for deep thermogenic gas, are evident in the recent mud. We interpret that the bacterial degradation of organic matter in situ is the main source for the gas in the KSSM. The upwelling off SE Korea may be an important source for the increased organic matter in the area.     

Shallow-water pockmark formation in temperate estuaries: A consideration of origins in the western gulf of Maine with special focus on Belfast Bay

A systematic mapping program incorporating more than 5000 km of side scan sonar and seismic reflection tracklines in the western Gulf of Maine has identified more than 70 biogenic natural gas deposits, occupying 311 km² in nearshore muddy embayments. Many of these embayments also contain pockmark fields, with some exhibiting geologically active characteristics including the observance of plumes of escaping fluids and sediment. Pockmarks, hemispherically shaped depressions of various size and depths, formed through fluid escape of gas and/or pore water, are sometimes found within or outside gas fields, although many gas fields lack pockmarks altogether. Although the origin of the natural gas remains unclear, if coastal environments at times of lower sea level were similar to the present, numerous lake, wetland, valley fill and estuarine sources of organic-rich material may have formed on the inner shelf. If these deposits survived transgression and remain buried, they are potential gas sources.Intensive mapping of the Belfast Bay pockmark field in 1998 produced the first nearly continuous side scan sonar mosaic of a Gulf of Maine pockmark field with a corresponding 3-dimensional geological model generated from seismic data. Statistical analysis of pockmark geometry, gas deposit loci, and subsurface evidence for gas-enhanced reflectors suggest that gas migration from deeper lateral sources along permeable subsurface strata may be the mechanism for pockmark formation in areas lacking gas-curtain seismic reflections. The coarse-grained transgressive ravinement unconformity between Pleistocene glacial-marine mud and Holocene mud may act as a conduit for distributing methane to the field's margins.     

Sea floor responses to hydrocarbon seeps,Louisiana continental slope

Observations and samples from research submersible dives confirm that brines, crude oil, fluid mud, and gases are common seep products. Through this mechanism a unique interplay of geochemical, geologic, and biological processes resulting in unusual sea floor features ranging from carbonate-rich nodular sediments to mounds with tens of meters relief. Stable carbon isotopes occluded in the carbonates provide a permanent imprint that links these authigenic carbonates to by-products of microbial breakdown of crude oil and gas. Recent DSV ALVIN dives confirm that hydrocarbon seeps and their accompanying chemosynthetic communities and authigenic carbonate mounds occur over the entire depth range of the slope.     

流体迁移和海底地形与天然气水合物的形成

使用重力取样器、渔网、深潜器等手段,已经在海底及以下浅表层的区域采获天然气水合物样品,但关于浅表层水合物的发育机制、分布规律、与海底地形的关系等问题还缺乏基本认识。根据2006年鄂霍次克海天然气水合物调查航次的调查数据,发现萨哈林东北陆坡区,特别是中、下陆坡区发育大量海底凸起。这些凸起一般呈不对称的丘形,宽几百米,高几十米。与海底沙波、沙脊不同,海底凸起为孤立海底地形,在南北方向上并不连续。海底剖面仪结果清楚地显示古陆坡凸起的发育。现今海底陆坡凸起的幅度普遍地要小于古陆坡凸起的幅度,个别地方古今陆坡凸起的形态有所变化,但大部分古、今陆坡凸起是一一对应的,基本形态没有根本变化。在萨哈林陆坡地区存在两个方向的挤压应力场,分别是由德鲁根盆地向萨哈林陆坡方向的挤压应力场和萨哈林陆坡沿萨哈林走滑断裂向南的挤压应力场,海底陆坡凸起是这两大应力场复合作用的结果。浊反射区中的游离气是底辟构造中的超高压多相物质向上迁移形成的,浊反射区上方对应的海底凸起应该是宏观构造挤压和局部底辟发育叠合的结果,浊反射区上方的海底凸起,在形态等方面应该和其他仅由挤压构造原因形成的凸起有所区别,比如顶部发育裂口等。在底辟构造中,由于游离气体的向上迁移,在整个水合物稳定域中从下到上,直至海底都可能形成水合物。     

Three dimensional seismic studies of deep-water hazard-related features on the northern slope of South China Sea

Mass transport deposits and geological features related to fluid flow such as gas chimneys, mud diapirs and volcanos, pockmarks and gas hydrates are pervasive on the canyon dominated northern slope of the Pearl River Mouth basin of the South China Sea. These deposits and structures are linked to serious geohazards and are considered risk factors for seabed installations. Based on high resolution three dimensional seismic surveys, seismic characteristics, distributions and origins of these features are analyzed. A distribution map is presented and geometrical parameters and spatial distribution patterns are summarized. Results show that various groups of the mapped features are closely tied to local or regional tectonism and sedimentary processes. Mass transport complexes are classified as slides near the shelf break, initially deformed slumps on the flanks of canyons and highly deformed slumps on the lower slope downslope of the mouth of canyons. We propose them to be preconditioned by pore pressure changes related to sea level fluctuations, steep topography, and fluid and fault activities. Gas chimneys are mainly located in the vicinity of gas reservoirs, while bottom-simulating reflectors are observed within the gas chimney regions, suggesting gas chimneys serve as conduits for thermogenic gas. Mud diapirs/volcanos and pockmarks are observed in small numbers and the formation of pockmarks is related to underlying gas chimneys and faults. This study aims at reducing risks for deep-water engineering on the northern slope of South China Sea.     

Acoustic evidence of shallow gas accumulations and active pockmarks in the ?zmir Gulf, Aegean sea

Based on high-resolution Chirp seismic, multibeam bathymetry and side scan sonar data collected in the ?zmir Gulf, Aegean Sea in 2008 and 2010, gas-related structures have been identified, which can be classified into three categories: (1) shallow gas accumulations and gas chimneys, (2) mud diapirs, and (3) active and inactive pockmarks. On the Chirp profiles, shallow gas accumulations were observed along the northern coastline of the outer ?zmir Gulf at 3-20 m below the seabed. They appear as acoustic turbidity zones and are interpreted as biogenic gas accumulations produced in organic-rich highstand fan sediments from the Gediz River. The diapiric structures are interpreted as shale or mud diapirs formed under lateral compression due to regional counter-clockwise rotation of Anatolian microplate. Furthermore, the sedimentary structure at the flanks suggests a continuous upward movement of the diapirs. Several pockmarks exist close to fault traces to the east of Hekim Island; most of them were associated with acoustic plumes indicating active degassing during the survey period in 2008. Another Chirp survey was carried out just over these plumes in 2010 to demonstrate if the gas seeps were still active. The surveys indicate that the gas seep is an ongoing process in the gulf. Based on the Chirp data, we proposed that the pockmark formation in the area can be explained by protracted seep model, whereby sediment erosion and re-distribution along pockmark walls result from ongoing (or long lasting) seepage of fluids over long periods of time. The existence of inactive pockmarks in the vicinity, however, implies that gas seepage may eventually cease or that it is periodic. Most of the active pockmarks are located over the fault planes, likely indicating that the gas seepage is controlled by active faulting.     

The morphologies and genesis of mega-pockmarks near the Xisha Uplift, South China Sea

Pockmarks are normally regarded to be manifestations of fluids escape through the seabed. Kilometer-wide depressions, here called mega-pockmarks occur as widespread features near the Xisha Uplift, northern South China Sea. Most of the pockmarks observed in this area are multi-kilometers and much larger than normal-pockmarks reported worldwide. The maximum diameter observed is 3210 m and the maximum depth observed is 165.2 m based on multibeam data and 2D seismic data. The pockmarks are circular, elliptical and crescentic in plan view. Seismic profiles show that the genesis of pockmarks is related to fluid (gas and/or pore water) escape. According to the fluids pathways, the pockmarks fall into four types: (1) gas chimney-related; (2) depositional boundary-related; (3) gas chimney and inclined structure (fault)-related; (4) inclined structure-related. Bottom currents are strong and complex in the study area. The multibeam data and seismic profiles indicate that they may play an important role on extension, maintenance and shaping of pockmarks. The research of the study area is in its initial stage, and the identification of these features as indicators of fluid flow is probably useful for hydrocarbon exploration.     

Unusual bed forms on the North Aleutian Shelf,Bristol Bay,Alaska

Side-scan sonar records collected over an area of the North Aleutian Shelf, approximately 250 km west of the head of Bristol Bay, Alaska, identified widespread evidence of active sea floor erosion processes, including sediment transport. Thousands of sea floor depressions, many linear and some containing rippled floors, were identified in water depths of 30 to 90 m. The depressions cover approximately 40 percent of the area surveyed. The sea floor depressions are interpreted to be erosional features, and in conjunction with a field of sand waves, exemplify the dynamic nature of the ocenographic processes active on this area of the sea floor.     

南黄海灾害性地质研究

本文研完了南黄海10种灾害地质因素的性质、危害性及分布,对其进行了分类,在此基础上对本区之灾害地质进行了区划和评价。     

Hydrocarbon plumbing systems above the Snøhvit gas field: Structural control and implications for thermogenic methane leakage in the Hammerfest Basin,SW Barents Sea

Based on the analysis of the high-resolution 3D seismic data from the SW Barents Sea we study the hydrocarbon plumbing system above the Snøhvit and Albatross gas field to investigate the geo-morphological manifestation and the dynamics of leakage from the reservoir. Fluid and gas escape to the seafloor is manifested in this area as mega-pockmarks 1–2 km-wide, large pockmarks (<100 m wide) and giant pockmarks 100–300 m-wide. The size of the mega pockmarks to the south of the study area may indicate more vigorous venting, whilst the northern fluid flow regime is probably characterised by a widespread fluid and gas release. Buried mega depressions and large-to-giant pockmarks are also identified on the base Quaternary and linked to deep and shallow faults as well as to seismic pipes. A high density of buried and seafloor giant pockmarks occur above a network of faults overlying an interpreted Bottom Simulating Reflector (BSR), whose depth coincides with the estimated base of the hydrate stability zone for a thermogenically derived gas hydrate with around 90 mol% methane. Deep regional faults provide a direct route for the ascending thermogenic fluids from the reservoir, which then leaked through the shallow faults linked to seismic pipes. It is proposed that the last episodic hydrocarbon leakage from the reservoir was responsible for providing a methane source for the formation of gas hydrates. We inferred that at least two temporally and dynamically different fluid and gas venting events took place in the study area: (1) prior to late Weichselian and recorded on the Upper Regional Unconformity (URU) and (2) following the Last Glacial Maximum between ∼17 and 16 cal ka BP and recorded on the present-day seafloor.     

Methane fluxes in the southeastern Baltic Sea

New data from surveys of gas-bearing mud areas in the Gdansk Deep (southeastern Baltic Sea) were collected during four research cruises in 2009–2011. These revealed the presence of seven large pockmarks apart from the three already known, and enabled significant improvement of the existing digital map of gassy mud distribution. Based on geochemical sediment analyses, calculated diffusive methane fluxes from the upper (0–5?cm) seabed layer into near-bottom waters were highest—3.3?mmol/(m²?day)—in pockmark mud, contrasting strongly with the minimum value of 0.004?mmol/(m²?day) observed in typical, background mud. However, fluxes of less than 0.1?mmol/(m²?day) were observed in all sediment types, including pockmarks. In a newer attempt to roughly estimate budgets at a more regional scale, diffusive methane venting amounts to 280?×?10⁶?mmol/day for southeastern Baltic Sea muddy sediments. Elongated pockforms in the southern Gotland Deep, known since the end of the 1980s as pockmarks, had methane concentrations that were similar to those of gassy mud from the Gdansk Basin, and there was no geo-acoustic evidence of considerably increased gas levels.     

Pockmarks: Submarine vents of natural gas or freshwater seeps?

Shallow depressions (pockmarks) in recent sediments of the western Baltic Sea were investigated as the possible surface expression of a deeper-seated hydrocarbon reservoir or a submarine freshwater discharge. Hydrocarbon gases extracted from the recent sediments associated with pockmarks had molecular and isotopic compositions different from those in the deeper Schwedeneck field. Salinities in the vicinity of the pockmarks decreased from brackish Baltic seawater to freshwater conditions with depth. Freshwater outflow from underlying glacial sediment aquifers is the likely cause of these pockmarks.     

Fluid flow related features as an indicator of potential gas hydrate zone: western continental margin of India

Multichannel seismic reflection data from the continental margin of western India suggest the potential presence of fluid expulsion features, which may or may not be associated with gas hydrates. No typical bottom simulating reflector was observed on the reflection seismic section. As a result we look for other evidence in seismic sections in a small corridor of the western continental margin of India in order to establish the presence of gas hydrates. We study features including venting through the seafloor, pockmarks, sea floor collapse, faults acting as migration paths for fluid flow, transparent gas-charged sediment, reduction in amplitude strength, diapirism and mud-volcano. Presence of all these gas-escape features on a seismic section implies the probable presence of methane within the zone of hydrate stability field.     

Active mud volcanism in the West Alboran Basin: Geochemical evidence of hydrocarbon seepage

The West Alboran Basin was previously classified as a mud volcanic province consisting of two mud volcano (MV) fields that are inactive at the present day: the Northern (Spanish) and the Southern (Moroccan) fields. The discovery of the first active mud volcano (Carmen; cruise TTR-17) in 2008, along with several pockmarks at the central part of the basin, motivates more careful geological and geochemical analysis of previous data and comparison to new observations.Gas bubbling from the crater of Carmen MV was observed and recorded using an underwater TV-system and a large TV-grab sample. The gas mainly consisted of methane with less than 1% wetness. However, all sets of homologues up to pentane were detected in the mud breccia of Carmen MV. Both molecular and stable carbon isotopic compositions, and their distribution along the core length, suggest a deep thermogenic source of hydrocarbons (HCs). Composition of the pore water from Carmen MV also points to a deep source of mud volcanic water. The isotopic results indicate that the source of mud volcanic water is the dehydration of clay minerals in the thermal zone of the smectite-to-illite transformation. Our observations allow us to infer the presence of structure II gas hydrates in mud breccia on the top of Carmen MV.High HC gas saturation in sediments in some pockmarks accompanied with live chemosynthetic fauna directly indicates the strong seepage activity of these structures. For the first time, authigenic carbonate crusts and chimneys with associated living chemosynthetic bivalves and tubeworms were sampled from a seep site in the West Alboran Sea. Authigenic carbonates consist of aragonite and calcite, and are characterized by a light carbon isotopic signature, up to −37.2‰ PDB, which points to their methane-derived origin.     

中建南盆地北部海底麻坑地貌特征及成因机制

海底麻坑是与流体逸散相关的一种海底凹陷地貌, 在全球海域的陆架、陆坡和深海平原等均有广泛发育。文章利用高分辨率的多波束测深数据和三维地震资料, 在中建南盆地北部识别出330个规模不等的海底麻坑, 按照麻坑形态可将其分为: 圆形、椭圆形、长条形及新月形麻坑。研究区内海底麻坑直径可达1500~7900m, 最大深度可达175m, 其中圆形麻坑规模(直径、深度)小于椭圆形、长条形和新月形麻坑, 表明圆形麻坑处于麻坑发育早期阶段。三维地震资料显示不同类型海底麻坑的下伏地层中均发育有断层、气烟囱、裂隙等流体逸散通道, 为该区域海底麻坑形成提供了有利条件。在海底麻坑演化过程中, 底流对海底麻坑的地貌形态具有改造作用。当圆形麻坑下伏地层流体活动强烈时, 流体可沿着运移通道直接向麻坑内壁渗漏, 使得其内壁塌陷, 逐渐演化成椭圆形麻坑。由于椭圆形麻坑处于底流活动影响的早期阶段, 其受底流改造作用较弱。在持续性底流活动的强烈改造作用下, 紧密排列的圆形或椭圆形麻坑逐渐拉伸演变成长条形麻坑。当底流作用于孤立的圆形麻坑时, 在底流的上游侧沉积速率增加, 麻坑在上游侧接受沉积被掩埋, 下游侧地层被侵蚀, 从而形成新月形麻坑。根据研究区海底麻坑成因机制分析, 文章首次提出了一种展示中建南盆地不同类型海底麻坑演化过程模型, 该模型有助于理解中建南盆地流体逸散过程和底流活动, 并且可为其他区域海底麻坑演化过程研究提供参考。     

南海中建海域麻坑发育特征及成因机制

海底麻坑在圈定潜在的天然气水合物发育区和指示海底地质灾害方面都具有重要意义。基于南海中建海域的高密度三维地震资料,采用自动追踪技术对研究区海底地貌特征进行了刻画,发现了众多形态各异、大小不一的麻坑,可分为圆形麻坑、椭圆形麻坑、拉长形麻坑、新月形麻坑和复合型麻坑等5类。中建海域的海底麻坑主要发育在海底地形坡折的位置,成群、成带分布,在地形平坦的位置麻坑不发育。影响中建海域麻坑形成的因素主要有火山活动、断裂活动、水合物分解、海底底流等。引起中建海域海底形成麻坑的流体主要有4种,分别是火山热液、天然气水合物分解的气体、沿断裂向上运移的深部油气及火山热液与天然气水合物分解气体的混合。     

Linking a linear pockmark train with a buried Palaeozoic structure: a case study from the St. Lawrence Estuary

The 15-km-long Matane pockmark train belongs to a series of NNE-striking alignments of pockmarks mapped on the seafloor of the St. Lawrence Estuary. It includes 109 pockmarks that show a complete transition from well-defined, relatively deep (up to 8.6 m), crater-like depressions to subtle, partly buried morphological features, suggesting that pockmarks have formed at different periods along the whole alignment and that the location of fluid release has changed through time. On seismic profiles, pockmarks are characterized by vertical seismic chimneys that root in the (fractured?) hinge zone of an open anticline within the autochthonous Palaeozoic rocks of the St. Lawrence Platform. In absence of a geochemical characterization of expelled gas, the relationship between the Matane pockmark train and the anticline in a domain characterized by mature source rocks is the strongest evidence for the genetic link between pockmarks and the release of gas from an active hydrocarbon system or a reservoir located in the Palaeozoic succession.

Anomalous seismic reflections related to gas/gas hydrate occurrences along the western continental margin of India

Gas hydrates along continental margins are commonly inferred from the presence of bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) on reflection seismic records. Shale and mud diapirs are often observed in the proximity of BSR-inferred gas hydrates. Analysis of data from documented gas-hydrate occurrences suggests that the areas where mud volcanoes exist on the seafloor are promising locations for sediments with high gas-hydrate concentration. Along the western continental margin of India (WCMI), we have identified several anomalous reflections on single-channel, analogue seismic records in the proximity of BSRs, from which the presence of gas-charged sediments and gas seepages was inferred. These features characterize both the shelf-slope region of the WCMI and the adjoining deep-sea areas. The seismic records also reveal mud/shale diapiric activity and pockmarks near the gas hydrates.     

Identification and characterization of fluid escape structures (pockmarks) in the Estremadura Spur,West Iberian Margin

Located on the West Iberian margin, between Cabo Carvoeiro and Cabo da Roca, the Estremadura Spur is a trapezoidal promontory elongated in an east-west direction, extending until the Tore seamount. Recently a field with more than 70 pockmarks was discovered in the NW region of the Estremadura Spur outer shelf (Lourinhã Monocline). Pockmarks are the seabed culminations of fluid migration through the sedimentary column and their characteristic seabed morphologies correspond to cone-shaped circular or elliptical depressions. The characterization of these features and the understanding of the associated fluid escape process are the main objectives of this work. Here we characterize these structures to understand their structural and stratigraphic control based on: 1) Seismic processing and interpretation of the high resolution 2D single-channel sparker seismic dataset, 2) Bathymetric and Backscatter interpretation and 3) ROV direct observation of the seafloor.The analysis of the seismic profiles allowed the identification of six seismic units, disturbed by the migration and accumulation of fluids. The Estremadura Spur outer shelf has been affected by several episodes of fluid migration and fluid escape during the Pliocene-Quaternary that are expressed by a vast number of seabed and buried pockmarks. At present, the pockmarks are mainly inactive, as the seabed pockmarks are covered by recent sediments. It is concluded that the migration of fluids to the seabed occurred over the Pliocene-Quaternary, as indicated by the buried pockmarks at different depths below the seabed. The vertical stacking of various pockmarks suggests a cyclical fluid flow activity that can possibly be the result of the eustatic sea level variations and the subsequent changes of the hydrostatic pressure.