Relations between methane venting,geological structure and seismo-tectonics in the Okhotsk Sea

Methane investigations carried out in the Okhotsk Sea show that the methane flux from the earths interior into the water column increased during periods of seismo-tectonic activity between 1988 and 2002. In this case, methane gas hydrates found on the northeast Sakhalin slope may have decomposed due to a reactivation of fault zones. Methane emissions in the Okhotsk Sea generally can be divided into two forms. Firstly, methane vents from decomposing gas hydrates and/or free gas exist below gas hydrate saturated sediments via fault zones, venting into the water column with high bubble concentrations that were recorded by echosounding. These hydro-acoustic anomalies were named flares. Methane concentration inside these flares reached 10,000–20,000 nl/l (background methane concentrations in the Okhotsk Sea are less than 90–100 nl/l). Secondly, methane migrates as seepage into the water column from oil- and gas-bearing sedimentary source rocks on the eastern Sakhalin shelf, without showing acoustic anomalies in the water column, probably by filtration and diffusion processes. In these areas methane concentration reached 500–3,000 nl/l. In seismo-tectonically active regions, like the northwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea, many new flares were observed. Their distribution and orientation are usually controlled by fault zones (East Sakhalin Shear Zone in the Okhotsk Sea).     

Possible variation in methane flux caused by gas hydrate formation on the northeastern continental slope off Sakhalin Island, Russia

The Sakhalin Slope Gas Hydrate Project (SSGH) is an international collaborative effort by scientists from Japan, Korea, and Russia to investigate natural gas hydrates (GHs) that have accumulated on the continental slope off Sakhalin Island, Okhotsk Sea. From 2009 to 2011, field operations of the SSGH-09, -10, and -11 projects were conducted. GH-bearing and -free sediment cores were retrieved using steel hydro- and gravity corers. The concentrations of sulfate ions in sediment pore waters were measured to investigate sulfate concentration–depth profiles. Seventeen cores showed linear depth profiles of sulfate concentrations. In contrast, eight cores and two cores showed concave-up and -down profiles plausibly explained by sudden increase and decrease in methane flux from below, respectively, presumably caused by the formation of gas hydrate adjacent to the core sampling sites.     

Selected contributions from the 11th Gas in Marine Sediments International Conference of September 2012, Nice: an introduction

This Introduction presents an overview of selected contributions from the 11th Gas in Marine Sediments International Conference held on the 4–7 September 2012 in Nice, France, and published in this special issue of Geo-Marine Letters under the guest editorship of Catherine Pierre, Patrice Imbert and Jean Mascle. These cover fluid seepage dynamics at widely varying spatiotemporal scales in a giant buried caldera of the Caspian Sea, mud volcanoes and pockmarks in the Mediterranean and adjoining Gulf of Cadiz, as well as Lake Baikal, pockmarks of shallower waters along the Atlantic French coast and in Baltic Sea lagoons, deepwater pockmarks and cold seeps on the Norwegian margin and the Hikurangi Margin of New Zealand, asphalt seepage sites offshore southern California, and the tectonically controlled southern Chile forearc. We look forward to meeting all again at the 12th Gas in Marine Sediments conference scheduled for 1–6 September 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan.     

Chemical evidence for the origin of the cold water belt along the northeastern coast of Hokkaido

In the southwestern Okhotsk Sea, the cold water belt (CWB) is frequently observed on satellite images offshore of the Soya Warm Current flowing along the northeastern coast of Hokkaido, Japan, during summertime. It has been speculated that the CWB is upwelling cold water that originates from either subsurface water of the Japan Sea off Sakhalin or bottom water of the Okhotsk Sea. Hydrographic and chemical observations (nutrients, humic-type fluorescence intensity, and iron) were conducted in the northern Japan Sea and southwestern Okhotsk Sea in early summer 2011 to clarify the origin of the CWB. Temperature–salinity relationships, vertical distributions of chemical components, profiles of chemical components against density, and the (NO₃ + NO₂)/PO₄ relationship confirm that water in the CWB predominantly originates from Japan Sea subsurface water.     

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。     

Seasonal and Inter-Annual Variability of Wind-Driven Upwelling near the East Coast of Sakhalin Island Based on QuikSCAT/SeaWinds Scatterometer Data

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - In this paper, seasonal and interannual upwelling variability in the Sea of Okhotsk off the eastern coast of Sakhalin Island based on wind data obtained...     

Isotopic composition of gas hydrates in subsurface sediments from offshore Sakhalin Island, Sea of Okhotsk

Hydrate-bearing sediment cores were retrieved from recently discovered seepage sites located offshore Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. We obtained samples of natural gas hydrates and dissolved gas in pore water using a headspace gas method for determining their molecular and isotopic compositions. Molecular composition ratios C₁/_C2+ from all the seepage sites were in the range of 1,500–50,000, while δ¹³C and δD values of methane ranged from ?66.0 to ?63.2‰ VPDB and ?204.6 to ?196.7‰ VSMOW, respectively. These results indicate that the methane was produced by microbial reduction of CO₂. δ¹³C values of ethane and propane (i.e., ?40.8 to ?27.4‰ VPDB and ?41.3 to ?30.6‰ VPDB, respectively) showed that small amounts of thermogenic gas were mixed with microbial methane. We also analyzed the isotopic difference between hydrate-bound and dissolved gases, and discovered that the magnitude by which the δD hydrate gas was smaller than that of dissolved gas was in the range 4.3–16.6‰, while there were no differences in δ¹³C values. Based on isotopic fractionation of guest gas during the formation of gas hydrate, we conclude that the current gas in the pore water is the source of the gas hydrate at the VNIIOkeangeologia and Giselle Flare sites, but not the source of the gas hydrate at the Hieroglyph and KOPRI sites.     

Distribution and expression of gas seeps in a gas hydrate province of the northeastern Sakhalin continental slope, Sea of Okhotsk

Multidisciplinary surveys were conducted to investigate gas seepage and gas hydrate accumulation on the northeastern Sakhalin continental slope (NESS), Sea of Okhotsk, during joint Korean–Russian–Japanese expeditions conducted from 2003 to 2007 (CHAOS and SSGH projects). One hundred sixty-one gas seeps were detected in a 2000 km² area of the NESS (between 53°45′N and 54°45′N). Active gas seeps in a gas hydrate province on the NESS were evident from features in the water column, on the seafloor, and in the subsurface: well-defined hydroacoustic anomalies (gas flares), side-scan sonar structures with high backscatter intensity (seepage structures), bathymetric structures (pockmarks and mounds), gas- and gas-hydrate-related seismic features (bottom-simulating reflectors, gas chimneys, high-amplitude reflectors, and acoustic blanking), high methane concentrations in seawater, and gas hydrates in sediment near the seafloor. These expressions were generally spatially related; a gas flare would be associated with a seepage structure (mound), below which a gas chimney was present. The spatial distribution of gas seeps on the NESS is controlled by four types of geological structures: faults, the shelf break, seafloor canyons, and submarine slides. Gas chimneys that produced enhanced reflection on high-resolution seismic profiles are interpreted as active pathways for upward gas migration to the seafloor. The chimneys and gas flares are good indicators of active seepage.     

Interseasonal Variability in Methane Concentrations and Fluxes at the Water–Atmosphere Boundary in the Western Sea of Okhotsk

Oceanology - Intra-annual variability in methane fluxes at the water–atmosphere boundary was shown for the first time in the water area of the Sea of Okhotsk east of Sakhalin Island. The...     

Natural oil and gas seeps on the Black Sea floor

Migration of hydrocarbons to the seafloor in the Black Sea occurs via direct seepages, mud volcanoes, and development of fluidized sediment flows (e.g., diapers). Gas migration occurs on the shelf, continental slope, and abyssal plain. Gas hydrates are spatially related to gas accumulations and are present in shallow subsurface sediment layers. Their distribution is controlled by the activity of mud volcanoes. In regions of methane seepages, specific biogeochemical processes related to the activity of methane-oxidizing bacteria are evident. This activity results in the formation of diagenetic minerals (carbonates, sulfides, sulfates, phosphates and other minerals).     

Gas hydrates from the continental slope,offshore Sakhalin Island,Okhotsk Sea

Ten gas-vent fields were discovered in the Okhotsk Sea on the northeast continental slope offshore from Sakhalin Island in water depths of 620—1040 m. At one vent field, estimated to be more than 250 m across, gas hydrates, containing mainly microbial methane (¹³C = –64.3), were recovered from subbottom depths of 0.3–1.2 m. The sediment, having lenses and bedded layers of gas hydrate, contained 30–40% hydrate per volume of wet sediment. Although gas hydrates were not recovered at other fields, geochemical and thermal measurements suggest that gas hydrates are present.     

Evaluation of the ecological state of the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk using the DNase test system

A study of the state of the Russian coastal marine ecosystems of the Sea of Japan (the Tumen River mouth) and the Sea of Okhotsk (the eastern shelf of Sakhalin Island and the Sakhalin Gulf) and Kraternya Bight (Yankich Island, Kuril Islands) was carried out during the 29th expedition of the R/V Akademik Oparin. A highly sensitive express analysis using the DNase of the Strongylocentrotus intermedius sea urchin was utilized in order to evaluate the quality of the natural marine water of the areas experiencing different degrees of anthropogenic impact. The marine water quality was evaluated according to the degree of the DNase inhibition in the samples. The presence of ecological stress was shown at the aforementioned sites excluding Kraternya Bight. The method allows the fast (1 hour) analysis of the pollution of marine areas and, coupled with data on the hydrological, hydrochemical, and microbiological studies of water samples, provides the possibility to make an ecological forecast.     

鄂霍次克海天然气水合物成藏条件分析

2006年5月由俄、韩、日、中四国共同组织的"海底冷泉与生命过程"联合调查航次,在鄂霍次克海域成功采获天然气水合物样品。从水合物发育的气源条件、温度压力条件、构造控制条件等方面,分析了该地区天然气水合物发育所具备的基本成藏条件。指出鄂霍次克海周边的高大山系为其提供了丰富的沉积物来源,并在鄂霍次克海中形成了宽广而深厚的陆架体系。陆架区沉积地层厚度一般超过10 km,且以新生代沉积为主。根据对重力柱状样品的观察和分析,并参照沉积物捕获器样品的测量结果,认为本区域沉积物总有机碳含量普遍较高。根据地震剖面解释和重力柱状样品的14C测年结果得出,本区沉积速率较高,并与目前已知水合物区的沉积速率相当。鄂霍次克海地处高纬度地区,冬季海面大部分被海冰覆盖。海面以下50~120 m之间常年存在一个低温盖层。这个低温盖层使得海底温度一直保持在2℃左右。在这样的温度条件下,鄂霍次克海350 m以深的区域都满足水合物赋存的压力条件。海底以下满足水合物温度、压力条件的沉积地层厚度为450~800 m。鄂霍次克板块位于四大板块之间,并受到四大板块的挤压。由于挤压作用,在萨哈林岛东侧陆坡地区形成一系列的海底泥火山构造,从而使该区域成为天然气水合物调查研究的主要目标区。鄂霍次克海域的沉积物源、沉积厚度、沉积速率、有机碳含量等构成该区域水合物发育良好的气源条件,而温度、压力和构造控制条件等也都非常有利于天然气水合物在该地区的发育。     

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.     

Discovery of the southwest Dongsha Island mud volcanoes amid the northern margin of the South China Sea

The Dongsha Basin, circling Dongsha Island that is amid the northern margin of the South China Sea, is characterized by thin (∼0.5 km) Cenozoic sediments veneering on thick (up to 5 km) Mesozoic strata. Recently, several geophysical and geological surveys, including multiple channel reflection seismic, sub-bottom profiling and benthic dredging, have been conducted on the slope southwest to the Dongsha Island, where the water depth varies from 400 m to 2000 m. A novel discovery is numerous submarine mud volcanoes of various sizes over there, typically 50–200 m high and 0.5–5 km wide. Geophysical profiles document their unusual features, e.g., roughly undulating seafloor, high-amplitude seabed reflectivity, foggy hyperbolic diffractions up to 50 m in water column above seabed, and internal reflection chaos and wipe-out down to 2–3 km level or deeper below the seabed. Benthic dredging from the mud volcanoes gives abundant faunas of high diversity, e.g., scleractinian (stony coral), gorgonian, black coral, thiophil tubeworm, glass sponge, bryozoan etc., indicating booming chemosynthetic community, among which the Lophelia pertusa-like coral and the Euretidae-like glass sponges are the first reports in the South China Sea. Concomitantly with them, there are also abundant authigenic carbonate nodules and slabs, raw, brecciated and breccias with bio-clasts congregation. Besides, there coexist massive mudflows and allogenic coarse-grained quartz, feldspar and tourmaline most likely brought out by mud volcanism. Geochemical analysis of the bottom water samples give dissolved methane concentration up to 4 times higher than the background average. These results lend comprehensive evidences for the ongoing and historical mud volcanism. The escaping methane gas is inferred to source mainly from the Mesozoic strata. Occupying a large province of the deep water slope, ca. 1000 km² or more, the mud volcanoes is prospective for gas hydrate and natural gas for the Dongsha Basin.     

Mud volcanoes and gas hydrates in the Anaximander mountains (Eastern Mediterranean Sea)

Detailed multibeam, sedimentological, and geophysical surveys provide ample new data to confirm that the Anaximander Mountains (Eastern Mediterranean) are an important area for active mud volcanism and gas hydrate formation. More than 3000 km of multibeam track length was acquired during two recent missions and 80 gravity and box cores were recovered. Morphology and backscatter data of the study area have better resolution than previous surveys, and very detailed morphology maps have been made of the known targeted mud volcanoes (Amsterdam, Kazan and Kula), especially the Amsterdam “crater” and the related mud breccia flows. Gas hydrates collected repeatedly from a large area of Amsterdam mud volcano at a sub-bottom depth of around 0.3–1.5 m resemble compacted snow and have a rather flaky form. New gas hydrate sites were found at Amsterdam mud volcano, including the mud flow sloping off to the south. Gas hydrates sampled for the first time at Kazan mud volcano are dispersed throughout the core samples deeper than 0.3 m and display a ‘rice’-like appearance. Relative chronology and AMS dating of interbedded pelagic sediments (Late Holocene hemipelagic, sapropel layer S1 and ash layers) within the mud flows indicate that successive eruptions of Kula mud volcano have a periodicity of about 5–10 kyrs. New mud volcanoes identified on the basis of multibeam backscatter intensity were sampled, documented as active and named “Athina” and “Thessaloniki”. Gas hydrates were sampled also in Thessaloniki mud volcano, the shallowest (1264 m) among all the active Mediterranean sites, at the boundary of the gas hydrate stability zone. Biostratigraphical analyses of mud breccia clasts indicated that the source of the subsurface sedimentary sequences consists of Late Cretaceous limestones, Paleocene siliciclastic rocks, Eocene biogenic limestones and Miocene mudstones. Rough estimations of the total capacity of the Anaximander mud volcanoes in methane gas are 2.56–6.40 km³.     

冲绳海槽中部海底气体排放分布特征及其控制因素

海底气体排放是海洋环境中碳物质从岩石圈进入到水圈中的重要地质过程,理解甲烷在该过程中的迁移方式和表征是定量评价海底甲烷排放在全球碳循环中环境效应的重要基础。本次研究使用2013—2016年采集的多波束回声测深以及二维多道地震数据,展示了与海底气体排放有关的地球物理特征,在水体、浅部地层中以及海底界面处分别识别出了束状羽状流、柱状裂隙气体疏导通道和下伏有碳酸盐岩的海床凸起,它们被解释为气体排放的地质表征,这些构成要素在空间上的叠置关系呈现了冲绳海槽中部气体排放特征,研究选取典型实例刻画了这一地质过程并总结了模型。经过分析断层与气体排放地质表征的空间位置关系,提出冲绳海槽研究区内海底气体排放的分布受到了盆地构造活动的控制,冲绳海槽发生的斜向裂谷作用导致了研究区张扭断层的形成,以拉张为主的断层为富甲烷流体提供了垂向运移通道,致使气体排放沿正断层分布。研究表明海底气体排放可以广泛发育在以拉张应力为主的地质环境中。     

Acoustic investigations of mud volcanoes in the Sorokin Trough, Black Sea

The Sorokin Trough (Black Sea) is characterized by diapiric structures formed in a compressional tectonic regime that facilitate fluid migration to the seafloor. We present acoustic data in order to image details of mud volcanoes associated with the diapirs. Three types of mud volcanoes were distinguished: cone-shaped, flat-topped, and collapsed structures. All mud volcanoes, except for the Kazakov mud volcano, are located above shallow mud diapirs and diapiric ridges. Beyond the known near-surface occurrence of gas hydrates, bottom simulating reflectors are not seen on our seismic records, but pronounced lateral amplitude variations and bright spots may indicate the presence of gas hydrates and free gas.     

南海东北部深水区泥火山的分布与特征

前人在南海东北部发现许多与天然气渗漏相关的规模大小不一的泥火山。受数据类型和分辨率所限,这些泥火山规模大小存在数据断层。利用多波束地形数据,在研究区域新发现了27个直径在300~1 170 m、高度在5~120 m范围内的泥火山,并且这些泥火山大多发育在海底侵蚀作用强烈的峡谷中。南海东北部海底地层中泥质和烃类来源充足,较快的沉积速率构成的超压体系以及强烈的挤压构造应力作用,使得含气高压泥浆上涌,穿透峡谷较薄的沉积层,这些黏性泥质在海底表面堆积形成了泥火山。     

Particle-tracking simulation for the drift/diffusion of spilled oils in the Sea of Okhotsk with a three-dimensional, high-resolution model

To conduct the simulation of oil spills in the Sea of Okhotsk, we developed a three-dimensional, high-resolution ocean circulation model. The model particularly improved the reproducibility of velocity field during the strong stratification period. Particle-tracking experiments with the effects of evaporation and biodegradation were performed using the combined data of daily ocean currents from the present model and the hourly diurnal tidal currents from the tidal model. The results are shown by the relative concentration of the particles averaged over the 8 years of 1998–2005 based on the ensemble forecast idea. For the case of particles released from the Sakhalin II oil field, the particles deployed in September–January are carried southward by the East Sakhalin Current, finally arriving at the Hokkaido coast, after 60–90 days. The particles deployed in March–August are diffused offshore by the synoptic wind drift, and hardly transported to regions south of Sakhalin. For the case of particles released from the region off Prigorodnoye, the oil export terminal, after the diffusion by the synoptic wind drift, a part of them are carried offshore of Hokkaido by the Soya Warm Current. The particles released in November–April flow out to the Japan Sea through the Soya Strait, mainly by the synoptic wind drift and secondly by the diffusion due to strong tidal currents around the Soya Strait. By considering the effects of evaporation and biodegradation, the relative concentration of the particles is considerably decreased before arriving at the Hokkaido coast, particularly in the case of drift from the Sakhalin II oil field.