Experimental formation of massive hydrate deposits from accumulation of CH4 gas bubbles within synthetic and natural sediments

In order for methane to be economically produced from the seafloor, prediction and detection of massive hydrate deposits will be necessary. In many cases, hydrate samples recovered from seafloor sediments appear as veins or nodules, suggesting that there are strong geologic controls on where hydrate is likely to accumulate. Experiments have been conducted examining massive hydrate accumulation from methane gas bubbles within natural and synthetic sediments in a large volume pressure vessel through temperature and pressure data, as well as visual observations. Observations of hydrate growth suggest that accumulation of gas bubbles within void spaces and at sediment interfaces likely results in the formation of massive hydrate deposits. Methane hydrate was first observed as a thin film forming at the gas/water interface of methane bubbles trapped within sediment void spaces. As bubbles accumulated, massive hydrate growth occurred. These experiments suggest that in systems containing free methane gas, bubble pathways and accumulation points likely control the location and habit of massive hydrate deposits.     

断裂带的韧-脆性转化与成矿

根据河南西部绿岩型脉状金矿的一些地质现象,探讨了韧性剪切带转化为脆性断裂的机制.韧性剪切过程岩石的面理化为矿液参与断裂作用,增加流体压力创造了条件.流体压力的增加一方面可以改变断裂的力学性质;另一方面可以压裂围岩,促进断裂韧-脆性转化,为脉状矿床的形成创造了条件.     

Structural and fluid evolution of Saraburi Group sedimentary carbonates,central Thailand: A tectonically driven fluid system

A stable isotopic study, focused on calcite cements, vein-fill calcite and various bioclasts was conducted on variably deformed and thrusted Lower and Middle Permian carbonates of the Saraburi Group. Samples were collected in quarry faces across 3 areas in the Saraburi–Lopburi region of central Thailand. Stable isotope crossplots (carbon and oxygen), using texture-aware isotope samples, defined variable, but related, fluid-cement histories, which are tied to regional burial and then orogenic overprints driven by the Indosinian (Triassic) orogeny. This was followed by telogenetic overprints, driven by late Cenozoic uplift. The studied carbonates were deposited along the western margin of the Indochina Block, where they were deposited as isolated calcareous algal, sponge and fusilinid-rimmed platforms on highs bound by extensional faults. The platform areas passed laterally and vertically into more siliciclastic dominated sequences, deposited in somewhat deeper waters within probable fault-bound lows. Regional post-depositional mesogenetic fluid-rock re-equilibration of the isotope values in ongoing calcite precipitates occurred until the matrix permeability was occluded via compaction and pressure solution. This regional burial regime was followed by collision of the Indochina and Sibumasu blocks during the Indosinian (Triassic) blocks, which drove a set of structurally focused (thrust-plane related) increasingly warmer set of fluids through the studied sequences. The final diagenetic overprint seen in the isotopic values of the latest calcite cements occurs in a telogenetic (uplift) setting driven by Cenozoic tectonics and isostatic uplift. Integration of isotope data with its structural setting establishes a clear separation in fluid events related to two time-separate tectonic episodes; its fluid chemistry defines the Permo-Triassic closure of the Paleotethys and its subsequent reactivation during the Tertiary collision of India and Asia. The C–O covariant plot fields in the Permian carbonates of central Thailand are so distinct that it is possible to use their signatures to separate burial from meteoric cements in drill cuttings and hence recognise equivalent subsurface unconformities and likely zone of porosity development in possible “buried hill plays in Thailand.     

Complex vein systems as a data source in tectonics: An example from the Ugab Valley,NW Namibia

Neoproterozoic metaturbidites in the Lower Ugab Domain, Namibia, contain a complex network of four sets of quartz-calcite veins, overprinted by km-scale folds associated with four regional foliations. The veins formed by fluid overpressure predating the main deformation. Deformation structures developed at the junction of two mobile belts during the assembly of Gondwana, the NS Kaoko Belt, and the EW trending Damara Belt. Km-scale NS trending folds were initiated during EW constriction in the Kaoko Belt, while their further development and all subsequent events are related to constriction in the EW-Damara Belt, with coeval sinistral strike slip in the Kaoko Belt. Deformation of the veins, and development of four orthogonal foliations are due to gradual changes in the bulk tectonic framework rather than separate orogenic events. The veins are deformed in a complex manner allowing a full 3D reconstruction of regional sequence of events. The local complex tectonics could be reconstructed because of the perfect local exposure and the multitude of veins: it illustrates the potential complexity of tectonic events and structural evolution in apparently simple slate belts.     

3-D Mohr circle construction using vein orientation data from Gadag (southern India) – Implications to recognize fluid pressure fluctuation

In this paper orientations of quartz veins from the Archaean age lode-gold bearing region of Gadag (southern India) are used to determine the relative stress and fluid pressure (P_f) conditions by constructing 3-D Mohr circle. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) analysis of the host massive metabasalt reveals that the magnetic foliation is NW–SE striking, which is related to early NE–SW compression (D1/D2 deformation) that affected the region. The quartz veins have a wide range of orientations, with NW–SE striking veins (steep northeasterly dips) being the most prominent. Vein emplacement is inferred to have taken place under NW–SE compression that is known to have caused late deformation (D3) in the region. It is argued that the NW–SE fabric defined the pre-existing anisotropy and channelized fluid flow during D3. The permeability was initially low, which resulted in high P_f (>σ₂). 3-D Mohr circle analysis indicates that the driving pressure ratio (R′) was 0.94, a condition that favoured fracturing and reactivation of fabric elements (foliations and fractures) having a wide range of orientations. This led to an increase in permeability and fluid flowed (burped) into the fractures. Resulting vein emplacement and sealing of fractures led to a reduction of P_f (<σ₂). It is argued that at this low P_f, NW–SE oriented structures continued to remain susceptible to reactivation and vein emplacement, while fractures of all other orientations were inactive and remained sealed. As a consequence, the study area has a cluster of NW–SE oriented veins. R′ is calculated to be 0.07 from 3-D Mohr circle analysis at low P_f, when fractures with NW–SE orientation only were susceptible to dilation. However, it is envisaged that any emplacement of veins in these fractures would have sealed them, thus reducing the permeability and initiating the next cycle of rise in P_f (>σ₂). Thus, it is concluded that the quartz veins in the Gadag region are a consequence of an interplay between conditions that fluctuated from P_f > σ₂ to P_f < σ₂.     

Serpentinization history of the Río Guanajibo serpentinite body,Puerto Rico

The Río Guanajibo serpentinite body (RGSB) near Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, is part of an ophiolite mélange thrust in an oceanic convergent zone. The aim of this study was to characterize the extent and chronology of serpentinization within this peridotite mass. Mineralogy, microstructures, and veining episodes within the RGSB were characterized using optical microscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and structural analyses. This study identified, for the first time, all three serpentine polymorphs (i.e., antigorite, chrysotile, lizardite) in serpentinite samples collected from Puerto Rico. Lizardite, the initial serpentine mineral formed from widespread hydration of olivine, was found throughout serpentinite samples. Chrysotile was the most abundant polymorph observed in sheared serpentinite samples, consistent with conditions favoring low fluid to rock ratios, supersaturation and abundant porosity. Antigorite was observed as a replacement texture in serpentinites that were not exposed to greenschist facies metamorphic conditions, and were frequently found in veins with a shear component. The results indicate that metamorphic conditions do not exclusively dictate polymorph formation.The mineralogy and textures observed within the different vein generations reflect the formation conditions, and deformational mechanisms, that occurred during the serpentinization process; six veining episodes (V1 – V6) were identified and grouped into four stages of serpentinization. Stage one (V1 and V2 type veins) represents the earliest stages of serpentinization and was characterized by microscopic fracture networks that formed as a result of cracking during the initial hydration of olivine under low water/rock ratios. During stage two (V3 and V4 type veins), fibrous crack - seal veins formed to accommodate continued volume expansion, via incremental fracture openings, caused by continued hydration of olivine. The ascension of serpentinite into the upper lithosphere was inferred to occur during Stage three; V5 type veins are associated with this stage. Textures and vein morphologies, representing supersaturated conditions and a decrease in temperature, were observed. Stage 4 (V6 type veins) was characterized by shear deformation features, which formed as a result of thrusting associated with the emplacement of the RGSB or Late Eocene transpression and fault reactivation along the Caribbean plate boundary.     

Open Fissure Folds record coseismic loading and postseismic stress relaxation

Open Fissure Folds hosted by high pressure/low temperature metamorphic rocks of south Evia (Greece) are introduced, their structural and microstructural record is analysed, and a mechanical model is proposed. Open Fissure Folds are preserved as at least two parallel folded quartz–feldspar veins separated by narrow buckled rock columns. The veins originated as tensile cracks that propagated in the middle crust driven by high differential stress. Features diagnostic for Open Fissure Folds indicate that the rock columns represented the layers of high viscosity, and not the veins as consistently reported in many previous studies on folded veins. This record is taken to indicate that buckling of the rock columns initiated after arrest of the fractures and terminated prior to complete vein sealing. Accordingly, mechanical decoupling by open fissures allowed for buckling of the rock columns in response to episodic creep of the host rocks according to stress relaxation, as expected for postseismic deformation in the earthquake cycle. I propose that the parental fractures propagated in response to quasi-instantaneous coseismic loading of the middle crust. Buckling was attributed to transient postseismic creep and stress relaxation. Complete sealing of the veins occurred when stresses were largely relaxed. Each Open Fissure Fold records the stress and strain history of a single earthquake.     

Steeply-dipping extension fractures in the Newark basin, New Jersey

Late Triassic and Early Jurassic bedrock in the Newark basin is pervasively fractured as a result of Mesozoic rifting of the east–central North American continental margin. Tectonic rifting imparted systematic sets of steeply-dipping, en échelon, Mode I, extension fractures in basin strata including ordinary joints and veins. These fractures are arranged in transitional-tensional arrays resembling normal dip-slip shear zones. They contributed to crustal stretching, sagging, and eventual faulting of basin rift deposits. Extension fractures display progressive linkage and spatial clustering that probably controlled incipient fault growth. They cluster into three prominent strike groups correlated to early, intermediate, and late-stage tectonic events reflecting about 50– 60° of counterclockwise rotation of incremental stretching directions. Finite strain analyses show that extension fractures allowed the stretching of basin strata by a few percent, and these fractures impart stratigraphic dips up to a few degrees in directions opposing fracture dips. Fracture groups display three-dimensional spatial variability but consistent geometric relations. Younger fractures locally cut across and terminate against older fractures having more complex vein-cement morphologies and bed-normal folds from stratigraphic compaction. A fourth, youngest group of extension fractures occur sporadically and strike about E–W in obliquely inverted crustal blocks. A geometric analysis of overlapping fracture sets shows how fracture groups result from incremental rotation of an extending tectonic plate, and that old fractures can reactivate with oblique slip components in the contemporary, compressive stress regime.     

Sealing of fluid pathways in overpressure cells: a case study from the Buntsandstein in the Lower Saxony Basin (NW Germany)

We studied veins in the Triassic Buntsandstein of the Lower Saxony Basin (NW Germany) with the aim of quantifying the evolution of in-situ stress, fluids and material transport. Different generations of veins are observed. The first generation formed in weakly consolidated rocks without a significant increase in fracture permeability and was filled syntectonically with fibrous calcite and blocky to elongate-blocky quartz. The stable isotopic signature (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) indicates that the calcite veins precipitated from connate water at temperatures of 55–122°C. The second vein generation was syntectonically filled with blocky anhydrite, which grew in open fractures. Fluid inclusions indicate that the anhydrite veins precipitated at a minimum temperature of 150°C from hypersaline brines. Based on δ³⁴S measurements, the source of the sulphate was found in the underlying Zechstein evaporites. The macro- and microstructures indicate that all veins were formed during subsidence and that the anhydrite veins were formed under conditions of overpressure, generated by inflation rather than non-equilibrium compaction. The large amount of fluids which are formed by the dehydrating gypsum in the underlying Zechstein and are released into the Buntsandstein during progressive burial form a likely source of overpressures and the anhydrite forming fluids.     

Oil-bearing inclusions in vein quartz and calcite and,bitumens in veins: Testament to multiple phases of hydrocarbon migration in the Barrandian basin (lower Palaeozoic), Czech Republic

The petroleum charge history of the Barrandian basin was investigated by analysing quartz and calcite and organic phases that occur in veins and fractures cutting dolerite sills within the Liteň Formation (Silurian). The geochemical characteristics of fluid inclusions trapped in vein quartz and calcite, vein bitumens and adjacent potential source rocks when combined with burial and thermal history data reflect the presence of at least three separate hydrocarbon charge episodes. Solid highly reflecting (R_max = 0.92–1.49%) bitumen provides information on the first and oldest episode of oil migration. The precursor oil was probably derived relatively early during diagenesis from nearby organic-rich sediments and was subsequently thermally altered to form the solid bitumen.