Multiple resolution seismic imaging of a shallow hydrocarbon plumbing system,Woolsey Mound,Northern Gulf of Mexico

The northern Gulf of Mexico is dominated by salt tectonics, resulting fracturing and numerous seafloor seeps and vents. Woolsey Mound, site of the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium's seafloor observatory, has been investigated extensively via surveys, direct sampling and seafloor instrument systems. This study presents an innovative approach to seismic data interpretation, integrating three different resolution datasets and maximizing seismic coverage of the complex natural hydrocarbon plumbing system at Woolsey Mound.3D industry seismic data reveal the presence of a salt body at in the shallow subsurface that has generated an extended network of faults, some extending from the salt body to the seafloor (master faults). Higher resolution seismic data show acoustic wipe-out zones along the master faults with expulsion features – seafloor pockmarks and craters – located immediately above them and associated, in the subsurface, with high-amplitude, negative anomalies at constant depth of 0.2 s TWTT b.s.f., interpreted as free gas. Since pockmarks and craters provide pathways for hydrocarbons to escape from depth into the water column, related sub-surface seismic anomalies may indicate free gas at the base of the gas hydrates stability zone (GHSZ). Fluid flow and gas hydrates formation are segmented laterally along faults. Gas hydrates formation and dissociation vary temporally in the vicinity of active faults, and can temporarily seal them as conduits for thermogenic fluids. Periodic migrations of gases and other fluids may perturb the GHSZ in terms of temperature and pressure, producing the observed lack of classical BSRs.     

The FAO guidelines for the development and use of indicators for sustainable development of marine capture fisheries and an Australian example of their application

Guidelines for developing and implementing sustainability indicators for marine capture fisheries were drafted during a recent expert consultation jointly organised by Australia and FAO in Sydney (Australia). This paper provides an overview of the guidelines and illustrates their application with an Australian example. As a background to the guidelines, the concept of sustainable development (SD) for marine capture fisheries was discussed and an agreed set of definitions and usage of common terms developed. The guidelines then outline the five sequential steps that need to be addressed in developing a meaningful set of indicators in the context of a Sustainable Development Reference System (SDRS). The five steps are:

• 1.specifying the scope of the SDRS;
• 2.developing a framework to agree on components within the system;
• 3.specifying criteria, objectives, potential indicators and reference values;
• 4.choosing the set of indicators and reference values;
• 5.specifying the method of aggregation and visualisation.

These steps are further elaborated in terms of how to scope the SDRS, define the dimensions and hierarchical levels to be included in the system, set multiple objectives and link these to indicators and reference values (e.g. targets, thresholds and/or standards). The guidelines also provide some examples of possible indicators, criteria for selecting some indicators over others and present ways of aggregating and visualising the indicators so that progress towards achieving sustainable development can be communicated easily to decision-makers.     

Wave impacts on structures with rectangular geometries: Part 2 decks,baffles and seawalls with impermeable or porous surfaces

This paper considers wave impacts on baffles, on baffles or decks adjacent to a vertical wall, and on porous seawalls and/or sea beds. For seawalls and vertical baffles, impacts can occur in steep waves, whilst a deck can be struck from below by a rising wave crest either in open sea or in a tank with standing waves (sloshing). A simple analytical model for the pressure impulse, P, due to a wave of idealized geometry and dynamics is developed and applied to the following geometries with impermeable surfaces:

• •horizontal wave impact onto a vertical wall with a deck at the waterline,
• •vertical wave impact under a deck in the same configuration (equivalent to vertical water impact of a horizontal plate),
• •horizontal wave impact onto a surface-piercing vertical baffle in open sea,
• •as for 3. but with the baffle in front of a wall,
• •as for 4. but with a deck extending from the vertical wall to the baffle,
• •bottom-mounted baffle in front of a wall with impact occurring on the wall.

We also consider cases that complement part 1 of this paper to include the effect on impacts on a seawall with a porous sea bed and/or sea wall with/without a berm. Finally we reconsider case 3) above but with a porous baffle.The method uses eigenfunction expansions in each of the rectangular regions that satisfy some of the impermeable or porous surface conditions, and a simplified free-surface condition. Their unknown coefficients are determined from the impact boundary condition, impermeable or porous boundary conditions and by matching the solutions, in any two neighbouring rectangles, along their common boundary. Although the fluid motion is treated rather crudely, the method yields the pressure impulse throughout the entire region. Impulses, I, and moment impulses, M, on all or parts of the structure are also presented.     

Atypical heat-flow near gas hydrate irregularities and cold seeps in the Baikal Rift Zone

In this paper, we address the irregular behaviour and geometry of the gas hydrate stability zone (HSZ) inferred from reflection seismic data in relation to heat-flow measurements. The study area lies in the hanging wall of the Posolsky fault in the Southern Baikal Basin (SBB). Side-scan sonar imagery already revealed an undulating antithetic active fault structure and several isolated active vent structures. Remarkably, these fluid discharge structures occur only where the base of the hydrate stability zone (BHSZ), as inferred from seismic reflection profiles, is fluctuating and discontinuous, independent of lake floor morphology. The correlation between the interpreted BHSZ and heat-flow data across the Malenki seep is reasonable. On a seismic profile south of the fluid escape features, the BHSZ is expressed as an oscillatory, but continuous reflection, and shows poor correlation with heat-flow measurements. In nearly all cases, measured heat-flow exceeds inferred heat-flow. Additionally, the local inferred minima are anomalously low compared to the expected background values in the SBB. These observations suggest that the present-day hydrate accumulation and its (meta-)stability are more complicated than originally suspected. The limited area of these anomalies, their amplitudes and their occurrence in the immediate vicinity of faults and fluid escape features suggest that fluid convection cells disturb local gas hydrate stability conditions.     

Jurassic subsidence history in the Hebrides,N.W. Scotland

Geohistory analyses have been applied to the generally well-dated Triassic-Jurassic successions of three areas in the Hebrides Basin, north-west Scotland, and the importance of making corrections for decompaction, palaeobathymetry and eustatic changes of sea level are assessed. The thermo-tectonic subsidence patterns in the Skye areas (north) suggest a three-phase history of crustal stretching, though only the first phase is well developed in the Mull area (south).Episodes of relatively rapid subsidence are:

• 1.(1) Late Triassic (c210 Ma) until earliest Toarcian (186 Ma);
• 2.(2) Latest Toarcian (180 Ma) until late Bathonian (c161 Ma);
• 3.(3) Early Oxfordian (154) Ma) until at least early Kimmeridgian (incomplete.).

These are separated by Toarcian (186-180 Ma) and latest Bathonian-Callovian(c161-154 Ma) episodes of either little subsidence or of uplift (but at slower rates than eustatic rise of sea level). The intervals between phases, at 30 Ma and 26 Ma, are remarkably similar but the wider significance of this remains to be established.     

Influence of bottom topography on an upwelling current: Generation of long trapped filaments

We investigate the influence of bottom topography on the formation and trapping of long upwelling filaments using a 2-layer shallow water model on the f-plane. A wind forced along-shore current, associated with coastal upwelling along a vertical wall, encounters a promontory of finite width and length, perpendicular to the coast.In the lower layer, topographic eddies form, which are shown to drive the formation of a filament on the front. Indeed, as the upwelling current and front develop along the coast, the along shore flow crosses the promontory, re-arranging the potential vorticity structure and generating intense vortical structures: water columns with high potential vorticity initially localized upon the promontory are advected into the deep ocean, forming cyclonic eddies, while water columns from the deep ocean with low potential vorticity climb on the topography forming a trapped anticyclonic circulation. These topographic eddies interact with the upper layer upwelling front and form an elongated, trapped and narrow filament.Sensitivity tests are then carried out and it is shown that:

• •baroclinic instability of the front does not play a major role on the formation of long trapped filaments;
• •increasing the duration of the wind forcing increases the upwelling current and limits the offshore growth of the filament;
• •modifying the promontory characteristics (width, length, height and slopes) has strong impact on the filament evolution, sometimes leading to a multipolarisation of the potential vorticity anomaly structure which results in much more complicated patterns in the upper layer (numerous shorter and less coherent filaments). This shows that only specific promontory shapes can lead to the formation of well defined filaments;
• •adding bottom friction introduces a slight generation of potential vorticity in the bottom layer over the promontory, but does not significantly alter significantly the formation of the filament along the outcropped front in the present configuration;
• •modifying the stratification characteristics, in particular the density jump between the layers, has only a weak influence on the dynamics of topographic eddies and on filament formation;
• •the influence of capes is also modest in our simulations, showing that topography plays the major role in the formation of long and trapped upwelling filaments.

     

The role of fines during acidizing treatments

Drilling, workover, injection and production operations can all cause physical impairment of the sandface and formation immediately around a wellbore. Matrix acidizing treatments are aimed at removing this type of damage. To obtain maximum damage removal most operators use in general a hydrochloric acid preflush followed by a mud acid main flush. During most acidising treatments large amounts of acids, usually of the order of one hundred gallons per foot of formation, are pumped into the reservoir, where various interactions occur with the matrix constituents, for instance:

• 1.• Cementing material is dissolved and clays and fines are released from their setting.
• 2.• Clays and fines are dissolved and gradually reduced in size.
• 3.• Acid-released clays and fines can be dislodged and plug pore throats.
• 4.• The pH of the spending acid increases and secondary precipitates can be formed.

The relative importance of the above processes varies for each treatment and depends on factors such as the spatial distribution of cement and minerals inside the porous network, the types and concentrations of the acids used, the temperatures at which the reactions take place and the rates at which the acids are displaced into the formation. These effects have been investigated at KSEPL in a series of core flooding experiments, carried out under representative conditions (pressure/rate/temperature), supported with modern petrographic techniques (quantitative SEM analyses).     

Stratigraphic and structural control on the distribution of gas hydrates and active gas seeps on the Posolsky Bank, Lake Baikal

The distribution and origin of shallow gas seeps in the vicinity of the Posolsky Bank in Lake Baikal were studied based on the integration of detailed seismic, multibeam, and hydro-acoustic water-column investigations. In all, 65 acoustic flares have been detected on the Posolsky Fault scarp near the crest of the bank and in a similar, nearby setting at water depths of ?43 to ?332?m. The seismic data reveal BSRs (bottom-simulating reflectors) occurring up to water depths of ?300?m. Calculations involving hydrate stability, heat flow, and topographic modulation based on BSR occurrence and multibeam bathymetry enabled prediction of a methane–ethane gas mixture and heat-flow values that would account for gas hydrate stability in the lake sediments under prevailing ambient conditions. These predictions are supported by ground truth data. The findings suggest that seeps concentrated along the crest of the Posolsky Bank are fed mainly by gas coming from below the base of the gas hydrate stability zone, which would migrate updip via permeable stratigraphic pathways beneath the bank. Gas would ultimately be released into the water column where these pathways are cut off by faults.

Distribution des sédiments sur la marge du golfe de Tehuantepec (Pacifique Oriental). Exemple d'interaction tectonique-eustatisme

During the PROGEMA I cruise which took place on the south-western Pacific coast of Mexico (between 14° and 16° N, 92° and 96° W), 3.5 kHz echosounding profiles, surface samples and cores as well as hydrological and oxygen minimum measurements down to 2250 m water depth were made in the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Chemical, sedimentological, mineralogical, X-ray and BEM analyses of waters, core and surface samples provided new data which permit a better knowledge of the Gulf of Tehuantepec margin, where tectonic activity is due to an active subduction.On the shelf of the gulf, the distribution pattern of quaternary deposits is affected by a double tectonic forcing and by eustatic oscillations of the sea level. The first tectonic control is linked to the existence of north-south tectonic troughs in the Tehuantepec Isthmus, in which the atmospheric circulation between the Gulfs of Mexico and Tehuantepec is accelerated by the Venturi effect. The resulting winds, called “Tehuanos”, play an important role in the forcing of surface circulation in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, inducing a deviation of the general circulation and thus forcing the distribution pattern of terrigenous sediment supply according to two physiographically and mineralogically distinct provinces, inherited from the past tectonic evolution, which are separated by the Tehuantepec axis.

• •-|A southeastern province related to the Caribbean Plate and fed by: (1) the rivers draining the Chiapas Massif; and (2) the Costa-Rica Current driving tropical and subtropical waters from Central America.
• •-|A northwestern province part of the North American Plate and fed by: (1) the Rio Tehuantepec which drains the Sierra de Oaxaca; and (2) the Californian Current.

The second tectonic control is linked to the tectonic structure of the margin influenced by:

• •-|shallow banks where the products of a present-day phosphatogenesis are concentrated because they are swept by upwellings. The latter are reinforced because the banks are situated south of the wind corridor;
• •-|tectonic depressions acting as sediment traps;
• •-|numerous canyons cutting the slope along brittle accidents, driving weak turbidity currents but which play an important role in the forcing of upwelling currents. Antarctic diatoms are found which are conveyed by the deep circulation from the South-Eastern Pacific and provide evidence that Antarctic Cold Water masses (AABW) rise towards the shelf.

The influence of eustatism is attested by the presence on the shelf of the Gulf of Tehuantepec of three paleoshorelines at 40 , 75 and 130 m water depth, linked to the Würmian sea level and to the postglacial sea level rise as on many passive margins.     

Microstructure characteristics during hydrate formation and dissociation revealed by X-ray tomographic microscopy

Despite much progress over the past years in fundamental gas hydrate research, frontiers to the unknown are the early beginning and early decomposition of gas hydrates in their natural, submarine environment: gas bubbles meeting ocean water and forming hydrate, and gas starting to escape from the surface of a hydrate grain. In this paper we report on both of these topics, and present three-dimensional microstructure results obtained by synchrotron radiation X-ray cryo-tomographic microscopy (SRXCTM). Hydrates can precipitate when hydrate-forming molecules such as methane exceed solubility, and combine with water within the gas hydrate stability zone. Here we show hydrate formation on surfaces of bubbles from different gas mixtures and seawater, based on underwater robotic in situ experiments in the deep Monterey Canyon, offshore California. Hydrate begins to form from the surrounding water on the bubble surfaces, and subsequently grows inward into the bubble, evidenced by distinct edges. Over time, the bubbles become smaller while gas is being incorporated into newly formed hydrate. In contrast, current understanding has been that hydrate decomposition starts on the outer surface of hydrate aggregates and grains. It is shown that in an early stage of decomposition, newly found tube structures connect well-preserved gas hydrate patches to areas that are dissociating, demonstrating how dissociating areas in a hydrate grain are linked through hydrate that is still intact and will likely decompose at a later stage.

Potential for gas hydrate formation at the northwest New Zealand shelf margin - New insights from seismic reflection data and petroleum systems modelling

In this study we provide evidence for methane hydrates in the Taranaki Basin, occurring a considerable distance from New Zealand's convergent margins, where they are well documented. We describe and reconstruct a unique example of gas migration and leakage at the edge of the continental shelf, linking shallow gas hydrate occurrence to a deeper petroleum system. The Taranaki Basin is a well investigated petroleum province with numerous fields producing oil and gas. Industry standard seismic reflection data show amplitude anomalies that are here interpreted as discontinuous BSRs, locally mimicking the channelized sea-floor and pinching out up-slope. Strong reverse polarity anomalies indicate the presence of gas pockets and gas-charged sediments. PetroMod™ petroleum systems modelling predicts that the gas is sourced from elevated microbial gas generation in the thick slope sediment succession with additional migration of thermogenic gas from buried Cretaceous petroleum source rocks. Cretaceous–Paleogene extensional faults underneath the present-day slope are interpreted to provide pathways for focussed gas migration and leakage, which may explain two dry petroleum wells drilled at the Taranaki shelf margin. PetroMod™ modelling predicts concentrated gas hydrate formation on the Taranaki continental slope consistent with the anomalies observed in the seismic data. We propose that a semi-continuous hydrate layer is present in the down-dip wall of incised canyons. Canyon incision is interpreted to cause the base of gas hydrate stability to bulge downward and thereby trap gas migrating up-slope in permeable beds due to the permeability decrease caused by hydrate formation in the pore space. Elsewhere, hydrate occurrence is likely patchy and may be controlled by focussed leakage of thermogenic gas. The proposed presence of hydrates in slope sediments in Taranaki Basin likely affects the stability of the Taranaki shelf margin. While hydrate presence can be a drilling hazard for oil and gas exploration, the proposed presence of gas hydrates opens up a new frontier for exploration of hydrates as an energy source.     

南海神狐海域天然气水合物饱和度的数值模拟分析

珠江口盆地神狐海域是天然气水合物钻探和试验开采的重点区域,大量钻探取心、测井与地震等综合分析表明不同站位水合物的饱和度、厚度与气源条件存在差异。本文利用天然气水合物调查及深水油气勘探所采集的测井和地震资料建立地质模型,利用PetroMod软件模拟地层的温度场、有机质成熟度、烃源岩生烃量、流体运移路径以及不同烃源岩影响下的水合物饱和度,结果表明:生物成因气分布在海底以下1500 m范围内的有机质未成熟地层,而热成因气分布在深度超过2300 m的成熟、过成熟地层。水合物稳定带内生烃量难以形成水合物,形成水合物气源主要来自于稳定带下方向上运移的生物与热成因气。模拟结果与测井结果对比分析表明,稳定带下部生物成因气能形成的水合物饱和度约为10%,在峡谷脊部的局部区域饱和度较高;相对高饱和度(>40%)水合物形成与文昌组、恩平组的热成因气沿断裂、气烟囱等流体运移通道幕式释放密切相关,W19井形成较高饱和度水合物的甲烷气体中热成因气占比达80%,W17井热成因气占比为73%,而SH2井主要以生物成因为主,因此,不同站位甲烷气体来源占比不同。     

Simultaneous exposure of English sole (Parophrys vetulus) to sediment-associated xenobiotics: Part 2—chronic exposure to an urban estuarine sediment with added 3H-benzo[a]pyrene and 14C-polychlorinated biphenyls

• 1.1. The accumulation of aromatic hydrocarbons (AHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) kv English sole (Parophrys vetulus) exposed for up to 108 days to an urban (test) sediment was compared to that for English sole exposed to sediment from a reference area. The concentrations of identified AHs and PCBs in the test sediment were 32 μg/g dry weight and 2·2 μg/g dry weight, respectively. English sole exposed to test and reference sediments for 108 days had biliary concentrations of aromatic compounds fluorescing at BaP wavelengths of 0·6 μg/g, wet weight and hepatic concentrations of PCBs of 1·4 ± 0·6 μg/g wet weight which were ten and eight times, respectively, as great as those in reference sole. These results show that accumulation of AHs and PCBs from sediment by English sole is a significant route of uptake in contaminated environments.
• 2.2. ³H-benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and ¹⁴C-PCBs were added to the test sediment to compare the uptake and metabolism of BaP to that of PCBs by sole. Steady-state concentrations of ³H-BaP and ¹⁴C-PCBs in tissues and fluids were reached by 4 days and 14 days, respectively. At steady state, the level of covalent binding of ³H-BaP to hepatic proteins in test sole was six times greater than that of ¹⁴C-PCBs, and there was significantly greater relative formation of BaP-glutathione (GSH) conjugates than PCB-GSH conjugates. Thus, the amount of BaP metabolized to reactive metabolites was greater than that for PCBs, even though the concentration of ¹⁴C-PCBs in liver of test sole was five times as great as that of ³H-BaP.
• 3.3. Trace amounts of ³H-BaP were also added to the reference sediment to determine how simultaneous exposure of English sole to those contaminants already present in the test sediment affected the metabolism and disposition of BaP. The ³H-BaP concentration ratios for liver to sediment and bile to sediment, as well as proportions of biliary BaP-GSH conjugates in test sole, were significantly greater than in reference sole. Thus, the formation and accumulation of potentially toxic metabolites of a carcinogenic AH (BaP) in sole liver were increased by simultaneous exposure to contaminants present in an urban sediment.

     

UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme: approach,experience and future plans

The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, UN Conference, 1972) outlined a ‘masterplan’ linking environmental assessment, environmental management and supporting measures as basic and inseparable elements of environmental actions plans. It also indicated the advantages of a regional approach in contributing to the solution of global problems. The Regional Seas Programme of UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) was subsequently initiated in 1974 (UN General Assembly, 1972). Development of UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme demonstrated that the basic concepts formulated at Stockholm can effectively foster regional cooperation among interested States, and may benefit from the support of the United Nations system as a whole.The present Regional Seas Programme includes fourteen regions, comprising over 140 coastal States. It was conceived as an action-oriented programme encompassing a comprehensive, trans-sectoral approach to marine and coastal areas and to environmental problems, considering not only the consequences, but also the causes of environmental degradation. Each Regional Seas Programme is based on the needs of the region concerned. The Regional Seas Programmes promote the parallel development of regional legal agreements, and of action-oriented programme activities, as embodied in the action plans. The overall strategy to be followed, as defined by UNEP’s Governing Council (UNEP, 1974) is:

• 1. Promotion of international and regional conventions, guidelines and actions for the control of marine pollution and the protection and management of aquatic resources.
• 2. Assessment of the state of marine pollution, pollution sources and trends, and of the impact of pollution on human health, marine ecosystems and amenities.
• 3. Coordination of efforts with regard to environmental aspects of the protection, development and management of marine and coastal resources.
• 4. Support for education and training efforts to facilitate the full participation of developing countries in the protection, development and management of marine and coastal resources.

Because the goal of each Regional Seas Programme is to benefit the States of that region, governments are involved from the very beginning in the formulation of the action plan. After acceptance, the implementation of the programme is carried out, under the overall authority of the governments concerned, by national institutions nominated by their governments. Although the Regional Seas Programme is implemented primarily by government-nominated institutions, specialized United Nations bodies, as well as the relevant international and regional organizations, contribute to its formulation, and also provide assistance to these national institutions. UNEP acts as an overall coordinator for the development and implementation of regional action plans. In some cases, this role is limited to the initial phase of the activities.     

The thermal structure of the Dvurechenskii mud volcano and its implications for gas hydrate stability and eruption dynamics

The sediment temperature distribution at mud volcanoes provides insights into their activity and into the occurrence of gas hydrates. If ambient pressure and temperature conditions are close to the limits of the gas hydrate stability field, the sediment temperature distribution not only limits the occurrence of gas hydrates, but is itself influenced by heat production and consumption related to the formation and dissociation of gas hydrates. Located in the Sorokin Trough in the northern Black Sea, the Dvurechenskii mud volcano (DMV) was in the focus of detailed investigations during the M72/2 and M73/3a cruises of the German R/V Meteor and the ROV Quest 4000 m in February and March 2007. A large number of in-situ sediment temperature measurements were conducted from the ROV and with a sensor-equipped gravity corer. Gas hydrates were sampled in pressurized cores using a dynamic autoclave piston corer (DAPC). The thermal structure of the DMV suggests a regime of fluid flow at rates decreasing from the summit towards the edges of the mud volcano, accompanied by intermittent mud expulsion at the summit. Modeled gas hydrate dissociation temperatures reveal that the gas hydrates at the DMV are very close to the stability limits. Changes in heat flow due to variable seepage rates probably do not result in changes in sediment temperature but are compensated by gas hydrate dissociation and formation.     

Granular experiments of thrust wedges: Insights relevant to methane hydrate exploration at the Nankai accretionary prism

The accumulation mechanism of methane hydrates has been a central issue in previous hydrate research regarding the Nankai accretionary prism, southwest of Japan. Expulsion of formation fluids is significant during the prism accretion process, and the migration of these methane-bearing fluids exerts a strong control on the accumulation of hydrates. Two types of fluid pathways, inter-granular porosity and faults, need to be evaluated to understand hydrate accumulation. Fluid migration along faults can be partly modeled by examining faulting activity. Our study modeled the accretion process by using two granular methods that approximated the geologic body as an assemblage of particles: (1) analog experiments using granular materials, and (2) a numerical simulation based on the distinct element method. The analog experiments closely reproduced the prism geometry observed in seismic profiles across the Nankai accretionary prism. Digital image correlation analysis indicated that the frontal thrust is generally active but older structures are also frequently reactivated. The numerical simulations produced prism geometries similar to those of the analog experiments. The velocity distributions of the particles showed evidence of episodic faulting and reactivation, but the internal stress field exhibited little change in the deeper part of the prism during deformation. The frequent and substantial changes in fault activity displayed by the models indicate episodic fluid flow along fault surfaces. Active frontal thrusting suggests that formation fluids generally migrate from deep within the prism to the deformation front, but may move along reactivated older faults. Inter-granular permeability also fluctuates, as it is controlled by temporal and spatial variations in the internal stress field. However, fluid flow is likely to be relatively stable in the deeper segment of the prism.     

南海台西南盆地天然气水合物区沉积物的地球化学和微生物特征分析

The Taixinan Basin is one of the most potential gas hydrate bearing areas in the South China Sea and abundant gas hydrates have been discovered during expedition in 2013. In this study, geochemical and microbial methods are combinedly used to characterize the sediments from a shallow piston Core DH_CL_11(gas hydrate free) and a gas hydrate-bearing drilling Core GMGS2-16 in this basin. Geochemical analyses indicate that anaerobic oxidation of methane(AOM) which is speculated to be linked to the ongoing gas hydrate dissociation is taking place in Core DH_CL_11 at deep. For Core GMGS2-16, AOM related to past episodes of methane seepage are suggested to dominate during its diagenetic process; while the relatively enriched δ18O bulk-sediment values indicate that methane involved in AOM might be released from the "episodic dissociation" of gas hydrate.Microbial analyses indicate that the predominant phyla in the bacterial communities are Firmicutes and Proteobacteria(Gammaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria), while the dominant taxa in the archaeal communities are Marine_Benthic_Group_B(MBGB), Halobacteria, Thermoplasmata, Methanobacteria,Methanomicrobia, Group C3 and MCG. Under parallel experimental operations, comparable dominant members(Firmicutes and MBGB) are found in the piston Core DH_CL_11 and the near surface layer of the long drilling Core GMGS2-16. Moreover, these members have been found predominant in other known gas hydrate bearing cores, and the dominant of MBGB has even been found significantly related to gas hydrate occurrence. Therefore,a high possibility for the existing of gas hydrate underlying Core DH_CL_11 is inferred, which is consistent with the geochemical analyses. In all, combined geochemical and microbiological analyses are more informative in characterizing sediments from gas hydrate-associated areas in the South China Sea.     

Distribution,behavior and fate of PCBs in the marine environment

I am extremely grateful and honored for being awarded the Okada Prize (1985) for my study. The present article reviews my research on the distribution, behavior and fate of PCBs in the marine environment. The outline of this study is summarized as follows:

1. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were detectable in the wide range of environmental media and biota of the Seto-Inland Sea, Japan, in which much high concentrations were found in sediment and biological samples due to their hydrophobic, lipophilic and less biodegradable properties as well as their extensive production and use in estuarine and coastal regions.
2. PCBs extend the boundaries of their distribution all over the global environment, being evidenced by their occurrence in open ocean atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, even in Antarctica. The global contamination of PCBs is much more prominent in northern hemisphere than in southern hemisphere.
3. The sinking rate of PCBs from surface to deeper layers in open ocean water column is relatively slower in tropical waters than in high latitude ones. This implies the possible prolonged contamination of persistent synthetic organic chemicals in the tropical marine environment.
4. The bioaccumulation processes in marine ecosystems can be explained by the physicochemical and biochemical properties of PCBs and the metabolic capacity of organisms. In higher animals, additional factors such as parturition and lactation are also related to this process.
5. Total PCB load in global environment was estimated to be about 370 thousand tons. Of this, most amounts were in coastal sediment and open ocean water. Presently, about 780 thousand tons of PCBs are still in use mainly in electrical equipments. In order to reduce the PCB levels in marine environment, pertinent measures to prevent the further discharge and safe disposal of PCBs are required.