High-intensity gas seepage causes rafting of shallow gas hydrates in the southeastern Black Sea

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Volumn 307, Issue 1-2, 2011, Pages 35-46

  Pape, Thomas ^a   Bahr, André ^a,b   Klapp, Stephan A ^a,c   Abegg, Friedrich ^a,d   Bohrmann, Gerhard ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BREMEN   (Germany)

^b GOETHE UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

^c SHELL GLOBAL SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL B V   (United States)

^d GEOMAR HELMHOLTZ CENTRE FOR OCEAN RESEARCH KIEL   (Germany)

Author keywords

Autoclave technology; Black Sea; Gas hydrate; Gas volume; Hydrate rafting; Pressure core

Indexed keywords

BLACK SEA; COARSE-GRAINED DEPOSITS; DEEP WATER; EQUILIBRIUM CONCENTRATION; EXTERNAL FORCING; GAS ACCUMULATION; GAS SEEPAGE; GAS VOLUME; GRAVITY CORE; HEMIPELAGIC SEDIMENTS; HOLOCENES; IN-SITU; MEAN VALUES; METHANE CONCENTRATIONS; PORE VOLUME; SEA FLOOR; SEDIMENT CORE; SHALLOW WATERS; SHALLOWER WATER; STATE OF THE ART; SURFACE SEDIMENTS; TECHNICAL EFFORTS; WATER DEPTH;

ANOXIC SEDIMENTS; BATHYMETRY; GLOBAL WARMING; GREENHOUSE GASES; HYDRATION; HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE; LITHOLOGY; METHANATION; METHANE; PRESSURE VESSELS; SEA LEVEL; SEAWATER; SEDIMENTOLOGY; SEEPAGE;

GAS HYDRATES;

DEEP WATER; DETACHMENT FAULT; GAS HYDRATE; HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION; METHANE; WATER DEPTH;

BLACK SEA;

EID: 79957969880     PISSN: 0012821X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.04.030     Document Type: Article

References (83)

1. Abegg F., Bohrmann G., Freitag J., Kuhs W. Fabric of gas hydrate in sediments from Hydrate Ridge-results from ODP Leg 204 samples. Geo-Mar. Lett. 2007, 27(2):269-277.
2. Abegg F., Hohnberg H.J., Pape T., Bohrmann G., Freitag J. Development and application of pressure-core-sampling systems for the investigation of gas- and gas-hydrate-bearing sediments. Deep Sea Res. I 2008, 55(11):1590-1599.
3. Bahr A., Lamy F., Arz H.W., Major C., Kwiecien O., Wefer G. Abrupt changes of temperature and water chemistry in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene Black Sea. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 2008, 9(1):Q01004. (G3).
4. Bahr A., Pape T., Abegg F., Bohrmann G., van Weering T.C.E., Ivanov M.K. Authigenic carbonates from the eastern Black Sea as an archive for shallow gas hydrate dynamics - results from the combination of CT imaging with mineralogical and stable isotope analyses. Mar. Pet. Geol. 2010, 27(9):1819-1829.
5. Barnes R.O., Goldberg E.D. Methane production and consumption in anaerobic marine sediments. Geology 1976, 4(5):297-300.
6. Bhatnagar G., Chapman W.G., Dickens G.R., Dugan B., Hirasaki G.J. Sulfate-methane transition as a proxy for average methane hydrate saturation in marine sediments. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2008, 35:L03611.
7. Borowski W.S., Paull C.K., Ussler W. Marine pore-water sulfate profiles indicate in situ methane flux from underlying gas hydrate. Geology 1996, 24(7):655-658.
8. Brewer P., Paull C., Peltzer E.T., Ussler W., Rehder G., Friederich G. Measurements of the fate of gas hydrates during transit through the ocean water column. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2002, 29(22):2081.
9. Carson B., Seke E., Paskevich V., Holmes M.L. Fluid expulsion sites on the Cascadia accretionary prism: mapping diagenetic deposits with processed GLORIA imagery. J. Geophys. Res. 1994, 99(B6):11959-11969.
10. Charlou J.L., Donval J.P., Fouquet Y., Ondreas H., Knoery J., Cochonat P., Levache D., Poirier Y., Jean-Baptiste P., Fourré E., Chazallon B. Physical and chemical characterization of gas hydrates and associated methane plumes in the Congo-Angola Basin. Chem. Geol. 2004, 205(3-4):405-425. the ZAIROV Leg 2 Scientific Party.
11. Clennell M.B., Hovland M., Booth J.S., Henry P., Winters W.J. Formation of natural gas hydrates in marine sediments 1. Conceptual model of gas hydrate growth conditioned by host sediment properties. J. Geophys. Res. 1999, 104:22985-23003.
12. Dickens G.R. Rethinking the global carbon cycle with a large, dynamic and microbially mediated gas hydrate capacitor. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2003, 213(3-4):169-183.
13. Dickens G.R., Paull C.R., Wallace P. Direct measurement of in situ methane quantities in a large gas-hydrate reservoir. Nature 1997, 385(6615):426-428. ODP Leg 164 Scientific Party.
14. Dickens G.R., Schroeder D., Hinrichs K.-U. The pressure core sampler (PCS) on ODP Leg 201: general operations and gas release. Initial Reports 2003, Volume 201. the Leg 201 Scientific Party. S.L. D'Hondt, B.B. Jørgensen, D.J. Miller (Eds.).
15. Duan Z., Mao S. A thermodynamic model for calculating methane solubility, density and gas phase composition of methane-bearing aqueous fluids from 273 to 523K and from 1 to 2000bar. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 2006, 70(13):3369-3386.
16. Etiope G., Ciccioli P. Earth's degassing: a missing ethane and propane source. Science 2009, 323(5913):478.
17. Etiope G., Lassey K.R., Klusman R.W., Boschi E. Reappraisal of the fossil methane budget and related emission from geologic sources. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2008, 35:L09307.
18. Flemings P.B., Liu X., Winters W.J. Critical pressure and multiphase flow in Blake Ridge gas hydrates. Geology 2003, 31(12):1057-1060.
19. Forster P., Ramaswamy V., Artaxo P., Berntsen T., Betts R., Fahey D.W., Haywood J., Lean J., Lowe D.C., Myhre G., Nganga J., Prinn R., Raga G., Schulz M., Van Dorland R. Changes in atmospheric constituents and in radiative forcing. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. S. Solomon, D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor, H.L. Miller (Eds.).
20. Haeckel M., Suess E., Wallmann K., Rickert D. Rising methane gas bubbles form massive hydrate layers at the seafloor. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 2004, 68(21):4335-4345.
21. Haeckel M., Reitz A., Klaucke I. Methane budget of a large gas hydrate province offshore Georgia, Black Sea. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Gas hydrates (ICGH 2008) 2008, Vancouver, British Columbia.
22. Heeschen K.U., Haeckel M., Hohnberg H.-J., Abegg F., Bohrmann G. Pressure coring at gas hydrate-bearing sites in the eastern Black Sea off Georgia. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 2007, 9:03078.
23. Heeschen K.U., Hohnberg H.J., Haeckel M., Abegg F., Drews M., Bohrmann G. In situ hydrocarbon concentrations from pressurized cores in surface sediments. Northern Gulf of Mexico. Mar. Chem. 2007, 107(4):498-515.
24. Hesselbo S.P., Gröcke D.R., Jenkyns H.C., Bjerrum C.J., Farrimond P., Morgans Bell H.S., Green O.R. Massive dissociation of gas hydrate during a Jurassic oceanic anoxic event. Nature 2000, 406:392-395.
25. Iversen N., Jørgensen B.B. Anaerobic methane oxidation rates at the sulfate-methane transition in marine sediments from Kattegat and Skagerrak (Denmark). Limnol. Oceanogr. 1985, 30(5):944-955.
26. Jørgensen B.B., Weber A., Zopfi J. Sulfate reduction and anaerobic methane oxidation in Black Sea sediments. Deep Sea Res. I 2001, 48:2097-2120.
27. Judd A., Hovland M. Seabed fluid flow. The impact on geology, biology, and the marine environment 2007, Cambridge University Press.
28. Kennett J.P., Cannariato K.G., Hendy I.L., Behl R.J. Carbon isotopic evidence for methane hydrate instability during Quaternary interstadials. Science 2000, 288(5463):128-133.
29. Kessler J.D., Reeburgh W.S., Southon J., Seifert R., Michaelis W., Tyler S.C. Basin-wide estimates of the input of methane from seeps and clathrates to the Black Sea. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2006, 243(3-4):366-375.
30. Klapp S.A. Natural Gas Hydrates - from the Microstructure Towards a Geological Understanding. Ph.D., University of Bremen 2009.
31. Klapp S.A., Hemes S., Klein H., Bohrmann G., Kuhs W.F., Abegg F. Crystallite size distributions of marine gas hydrates. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Gas hydrates (ICGH 2008) 2008, Vancouver, British Columbia.
32. Klaucke I., Sahling H., Weinrebe W., Blinova V., Bürk D., Lursmanashvili N., Bohrmann G. Acoustic investigation of cold seeps offshore Georgia, eastern Black Sea. Mar. Geol. 2006, 231(1-4):51-67.
33. Klauda J.B., Sandler S.I. Global distribution of methane hydrate in ocean sediment. Energy Fuels 2005, 19(2):459-470.
34. Kvenvolden K. Gas hydrates - geological perspective and global change. Rev. Geophys. 1993, 31(2):173-188.
35. Lamy F., Arz H.W., Bond G.C., Bahr A., Pätzold J. Multicentennial-scale hydrological changes in the Black Sea and northern Red Sea during the Holocene and the Arctic/North Atlantic Oscillation. Paleoceanography 2006, 21:PA1008.
36. Leonov A.V. Variations in the Black Sea water salinity from its latest salinization to the present state: estimation based on mathematical modeling. Water Resour. 2005, 32(2):134-144.
37. Lorenson T.D. Microscopic character of marine sediment containing disseminated gas hydrate: examples from the Blake Ridge and the Middle America Trench. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2000, 912:189-194. (Gas hydrates: Challenges for the future).
38. MacDonald I.R., Guinasso N.L., Sassen R., Brooks J.M., Lee L., Scott K.T. Gas hydrate that breaches the sea floor on the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. Geology 1994, 22(8):699-702.
39. Mazzini A., Ivanov M.K., Nermoen A., Bahr A., Bohrmann G., Svensen H., Planke S. Complex plumbing systems in the near subsurface: geometries of authigenic carbonates from Dolgovskoy Mound (Black Sea) constrained by analogue experiments. Mar. Pet. Geol. 2008, 25(6):457-472.
40. Mienert J., Vanneste M., Bünz S., Andreassen K., Haflidason H., Sejrup H.P. Ocean warming and gas hydrate stability on the mid-Norwegian margin at the Storegga Slide. Mar. Pet. Geol. 2005, 22:233-244.
41. Milkov A.V. Global estimates of hydrate-bound gas in marine sediments: how much is really out there?. Earth Sci. Rev. 2004, 66:183-197.
42. Milkov A.V., Claypool G.E., Lee Y.-J., Xu W., Dickens G.R., Borowski W.S. In situ methane concentrations at Hydrate Ridge, offshore Oregon: new constraints on the global gas hydrate inventory from an active margin. Geology 2003, 31(10):833-836. ODP Leg 204 Scientific Party.
43. Milkov A.V., Dickens G.R., Claypool G.E., Lee Y.-J., Borowski W.S., Torres M.E., Xu W., Tomaru H., Tréhu A.M., Schultheiss P. Co-existence of gas hydrate, free gas, and brine within the regional gas hydrate stability zone at Hydrate Ridge (Oregon margin): evidence from prolonged degassing of a pressurized core. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2004, 222(3-4):829-843.
44. Minshull T.A., Keddie A. Measuring the geotherm with gas hydrate bottom-simulating reflectors: a novel approach using three-dimensional seismic data from the eastern Black Sea. Terra Nova 2010, 22(2):131-136.
45. Naudts L., Greinert J., Artemov Y., Staelens P., Poort J., Van Rensbergen P., De Batist M. Geological and morphological setting of 2778 methane seeps in the Dnepr paleo-delta, northwestern Black Sea. Mar. Geol. 2006, 227(3-4):177-199.
46. Nikolovska A., Sahling H., Bohrmann G. Novel hydro-acoustic methodology for detection, localization and quantification of gas bubbles rising from the seafloor at gas seeps from the eastern Black Sea. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 2008, 9(10):Q10010. (G3).
47. Østergaard K.K., Masoudi R., Tohidi B., Danesh A., Todd A.C. A general correlation for predicting the suppression of hydrate dissociation temperature in the presence of thermodynamic inhibitors. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 2005, 48(1-2):70-80.
48. Pape T., Blumenberg M., Seifert R., Bohrmann G., Michaelis W. Marine methane biogeochemisty of the Black Sea: a review. Links Between Geological Processes, Microbial Activities & Evolution of Life 2008, 281-311. Springer Science+Business Media B.V. Y. Dilek, H. Furnes, K. Muehlenbachs (Eds.).
49. Pape T., Bahr A., Rethemeyer J., Kessler J.D., Sahling H., Hinrichs K.U., Klapp S.A., Reeburgh W.S., Bohrmann G. Molecular and isotopic partitioning of low-molecular weight hydrocarbons during migration and gas hydrate precipitation in deposits of a high-flux seepage site. Chem. Geol. 2010, 269(3-4):350-363.
50. Pape T., Kasten S., Zabel M., Bahr A., Abegg F., Hohnberg H.-J., Bohrmann G. Gas hydrates in shallow deposits of the Amsterdam mud volcano, Anaximander Mountains, Northeastern Mediterranean Sea. Geo-Mar. Lett. 2010, 30(3-4):187-206.
51. Paull C.K., Ussler W., Dillon W.P. Is the extent of glaciation limited by marine gas-hydrates?. Geophys. Res. Lett. 1991, 18(3):432-434.
52. Paull C.K., Ussler W., Borowski W.S., Spiess F.N. Methane-rich plumes on the Carolina continental rise: associations with gas hydrates. Geology 1995, 23(1):89-92.
53. Paull C.K., Buelow W.J., Ussler W., Borowski W.S. Increased continental-margin slumping frequency during sea-level lowstands above gas hydrate-bearing sediments. Geology 1996, 24(2):143-146.
54. Paull C.K., Matsumoto R., Wallace P.J., et al. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Initial Reports. Explanatory Notes 1996, Vol. 164. 2:13-41.
55. Paull C., Brewer P., Ussler W., Peltzer E., Rehder G., Clague D. An experiment demonstrating that marine slumping is a mechanism to transfer methane from seafloor gas-hydrate deposits into the upper ocean and atmosphere. Geo-Mar. Lett. 2003, 22(4):198-203.
56. Peckmann J., Reimer A., Luth U., Luth C., Hansen B.T., Heinicke C., Hoefs J., Reitner J. Methane-derived carbonates and authigenic pyrite from the northwestern Black Sea. Mar. Geol. 2001, 177:129-150.
57. Reeburgh W.S. Methane consumption in Cariaco Trench waters and sediments. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 1976, 28(3):337-344.
58. Reeburgh W.S., Ward B.B., Whalen S.C., Sandbeck K.A., Kilpatrick K.A., Kerkhof L.J. Black Sea methane geochemistry. Deep Sea Res. 1991, 38(Suppl. 2):S1189-S1210.
59. Rehder G., Kirby S.H., Durham W.B., Stern L.A., Peltzer E.T., Pinkston J., Brewer P.G. Dissolution rates of pure methane hydrate and carbon-dioxide hydrate in undersaturated seawater at 1000-m depth. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 2004, 68(2):285-292.
60. Reitz A., Pape T., Haeckel M., Schmidt M., Berner U., Scholz F., Liebetrau V., Aloisi G., Weise S.M., Wallmann K. Source of fluids and gases expelled at different cold seeps offshore Georgia, eastern Black Sea. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 2011, 75(11):3250-3268.
61. Riedel M., Collett T.S., Malone M.J., Scientists E. Proceedings of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International, Inc., for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program 2006, Vol. 311.
62. Ross D.A., Degens E.T. Recent sediments of Black Sea. The Black Sea - Geology, Chemistry and Biology 1974, 183-199. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tusla, USA. E.T. Degens, D.A. Ross (Eds.).
63. Rothwell R.G., Thomson J., Kähler G. Low-sea-level emplacement of a very large Late Pleistocene 'megaturbidite' in the western Mediterranean Sea. Nature 1998, 392(6674):377-380.
64. Ruppel C.D., Dickens G.R., Castellini D.G., Gilhooly W., Lizarralde D. Heat and salt inhibition of gas hydrate formation in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2005, 32:L04605.
65. Schmale O., Greinert J., Rehder G. Methane emission from high-intensity marine gas seeps in the Black Sea into the atmosphere. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2005, 32:L07609.
66. Schmale O., Haeckel M., McGinnis D.F. Response of the Black Sea methane budget to massive short-term submarine inputs of emthane. Biogeosciences 2011, 8:911-918.
67. Schubert C.J., Durisch-Kaier E., Klauser L., Vazquez F., Wehrli B., Holzner C., Kipfer R., Schmale O., Greinert J., Kuypers M.M.M. Recent studies on sources and sinks of methane in the Black Sea. Past and Present Water Column Anoxia 2006, 419-441. Springer, Dordrecht. L.N. Neretin (Ed.).
68. Sloan E.D., Koh C.A. Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases 2007, CRC Press.
69. Solomon E.A., Kastner M., MacDonald I.R., Leifer I. Considerable methane fluxes to the atmosphere from hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. Nat. Geosci. 2009, 2(8):561-565.
70. Stern L.A., Circone S., Kirby S.H., Durham W.B. Anomalous preservation of pure methane hydrate at 1atm. J. Phys. Chem. B 2001, 105(9):1756-1762.
71. Suess E., Torres M., Bohrmann G., Collier R.W., Greinert J., Linke P., Rehder G., Tréhu A., Wallmann K., Winckler G., Zuleger E. Gas hydrate destabilization: enhanced dewatering, benthic material turnover and large methane plumes at the Cascadia convergent margin. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 1999, 170(1-2):1-15.
72. Suess E., Torres M., Bohrmann G., Collier R.W., Rickert D., Goldfinger C., Linke P., Heuser A., Sahling H., Heeschen K., Jung C., Nakamura K., Greinert J., Pfannkuche O., Tréhu A., Klinkhammer G., Whiticar M.J., Eisenhauer A., Teichert B., Elvert M. Sea floor methane hydrates at Hydrate Ridge, Cascadia Margin. Natural gas hydrates - Occurrences Distribution and Detection 2001, 87-98. American Geophysical Union, Washington. C.K. Paull, W.P. Dillon (Eds.).
73. Taylor M.H., Dillon W.P., Pecher I.A. Trapping and migration of methane associated with the gas hydrate stability zone at the Blake Ridge Diapir: new insights from seismic data. Mar. Geol. 2000, 164(1-2):79-89.
74. Tishchenko P., Hensen C., Wallmann K., Wong C.S. Calculation of the stability and solubility of methane hydrate in seawater. Chem. Geol. 2005, 219:37-52.
75. Torres M.E., Wallmann K., Tréhu A.M., Bohrmann G., Borowski W.S., Tomaru H. Gas hydrate growth, methane transport, and chloride enrichment at the southern summit of Hydrate Ridge, Cascadia margin off Oregon. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2004, 226(1-2):225-241.
76. Tréhu A.M., Flemings P.B., Bangs N.L., Chevallier J., Gràcia E., Johnson J.E., Liu C.S., Liu X., Riedel M., Torres M.E. Feeding methane vents and gas hydrate deposits at south Hydrate Ridge. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2004, 31:L23310.
77. Tryon M.D., Brown K.M., Torres M.E. Fluid and chemical flux in and out of sediments hosting methane hydrate deposits on Hydrate Ridge, OR, II: hydrological processes. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2002, 201(3-4):541-557.
78. Tugolesov D.A., Gorshkov A.S., Meysne L.B., Soloviov V.V., Khakhalev E.M., Akilova Y.V., Akentieva G.P., Gabidulina T.I., Kolomeytseva S.A., Kochneva T.Y., Pereturina I.G., Plashihina I.N. Tectonics of the Mesozoic Sediments of the Black Sea Basin 1985.
79. Ussler W., Paull C.K. Ion exclusion associated with marine gas hydrate deposits. American Geophysical Union. 2001, Vol. 124:41-52. C.K. Paull, W.P. Dillon (Eds.).
80. Wagner-Friedrichs M. Seafloor Seepage in the Black Sea: Mud Volcanoes, Seeps and Diapiric Structures Imaged by Acoustic Methods. Ph.D., University of Bremen 2007.
81. Weinberger J.L., Brown K.M., Long P.E. Painting a picture of gas hydrate distribution with thermal images. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2005, 32:L04609.
82. Westbrook G.K., Thatcher K.E., Rohling E.J., Piotrowski A.M., Pälike H., Osborne A.H., Nisbet E.G., Minshull T.A., Lanoisellé M., James R.H., Hühnerbach V., Green D., Fisher R.E., Crocker A.J., Chabert A., Bolton C., Beszczynska-Möller A., Berndt C., Aquilina A. Escape of methane gas from the seabed along the West Spitsbergen continental margin. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2009, 36:L15608.
83. Whiticar M.J. Carbon and hydrogen isotope systematics of bacterial formation and oxidation of methane. Chem. Geol. 1999, 161:291-314.