OS32A-01
Massive Dissociation of Subsurface Gas Hydrates and Collapse of Gas Hydrate Mounds during the LGM in the Eastern Margin of Japan Sea: Evidence from Benthic Forams and U/Th ages of Authigenic Carbonates
A number of gigantic methane plumes, ca. 600 m high, and massive blocks of gas hydrate, ca. 0.5 m x 1.0 m, have been observed on the Umitaka spur and Joetsu knoll, eastern margin of Japan Sea. Large pockmarks and mounds, ca. 0.5 km in diameter, develop on the spur and knoll. The mounds exhibit rough morphological features characterized by small valleys of 5m wide, steep cliffs, crater-like depressions of 10 m in diameter, and scattered carbonate nodules and crusts of various size and shape with occasional gas hydrate blocks and veins and gas venting. To the contrary, pockmarks are inactive, partly filled by well-stratified mud without any indication of gas venting. 2D and 3D seismic surveys have recognized widely distributed BSRs at around 150 mbsf over the spur and knoll. Seismic profiles delineated deep gas chimney structures below the pockmarks and mounds. Unusual pull-up structures within gas chimneys indicate massive accumulation of gas hydrate. All these findings are likely to suggest that massive hydrate deposits both in gas chimneys at depths and hydrate mounds on the spur and knoll were collapsed and floated up to the sea surface, leaving big holes (= pockmarks) on the seafloor. Quantitative analysis of foraminiferal assemblage has revealed that the well laminated, burrow-free 17 to 22 ka sediments are substantially barren for benthic forams but for unusual species which has been believed to survive under high methane environments. Shells of such a few benthic formas from around 20 ka sediments are anomalously depleted in C-13. U-Th ages of authigenic carbonates of CH4-induced carbonate nodules and crusts are likely to center around 20 ka. Above line of evidences all suggest that gas hydrate system was collapsed and methane fluxes were enhanced during the last glacial maximum (LGM), presumably due to low stand of sea level and pressure release. Broken gas hydrate blocks are expected to float up to the sea surface to supply significant amount of methane to atmosphere. The amount of methane emitted from a single hydrate mound is estimated to be at least ~0.1 Tcf CH4.
OS32A-02
Acoustical surveys of Methane plumes using the quantitative echo sounder in Japan Sea 2008
The research and training vessel Umitaka-maru (Tokyo Univ. of Marine Science and Technology) and the research vessel Natsushima (JAMSTEC) sailed to the methane seep area on a small ridge in the Naoetsu Basin, in the eastern margin of the Sea of Japan in 2004 to 2008 to survey the ocean floor methane hydrates and related acoustic signatures of methane plumes by using a quantitative echo sounder. We mapped minute details of active methane plumes by using a quantitative echo sounder with positioning data from GPS. We also measured average of echo intensity from the methane plumes and sea bottom features both over every 1m range and every 4 seconds employing the echo integrator. We took a still picture and filmed the methane seep area. We obtained the following results from the present echo sounder survey and the experiment in situ. 1) The floating up speed of the methane hydrate bubbles was 600m an hour without depending on the amount of methane hydrates. 2) The backscattering strength of methane hydrate bubbles, whose volume is known, was calculated, and calibration was conducted. 3) We clarified that the methane hydrate bubbles were floating up intermittently. Based on the results, this acoustical method is an effective approach to record the behaviors of the methane hydrate in the water column and to monitor the course of methane hydrate bubbles floating up to the surface. As a following up project, we are planning to make a trial calculation of the amount of floating methane bubbles and methane hydrates using the result of acoustic calibration.
OS32A-03
Acoustical Survey of Methane Plumes on North Hydrate Ridge: Constraining Temporal and Spatial Characteristics.
While methane plumes associated with hydrate formations have been acoustically imaged before, little is known about their temporal characteristics. Previous acoustic surveys have focused on determining plume location, but as far as we know, multiple, repeated surveys of the same plume have not been done prior to the survey presented here. In July 2008, we acquired sixteen identical surveys within 19 hours over the northern summit of Hydrate Ridge in the Cascadia accretionary complex using the onboard 3.5 and 12 kHz echosounders. As in previous studies, the plumes were invisible to the 3.5 kHz echosounder and clearly imaged with 12 kHz. Seafloor depth in this region is ~600 m. Three distinct plumes were detected close to where plumes were located by Heeschen et al. (2003) a decade ago. Two of the plumes disappeared at ~520 m water depth, which is the depth of the top of the gas hydrate stability as determined from CTD casts obtained during the cruise. This supports the conclusion of Heeschen et al. (2003) that the bubbles are armored by gas hydrate and that they dissolve in the water column when they leave the hydrate stability zone. One of the plumes near the northern summit, however, extended through this boundary to at least 400 m (the shallowest depth recorded). A similar phenomenon was observed in methane plumes in the Gulf of Mexico, where the methane was found to be armored by an oil skin. In addition to the steady plumes, two discrete "burps" were observed. One "burp" occurred approximately 600 m to the SSW of the northern summit. This was followed by a second strong event 300m to the north an hour later. To evaluate temporal and spatial patterns, we summed the power of the backscattered signal in different depth windows for each survey. We present the results as a movie in which the backscatter power is shown in map view as a function of time. The surveys encompassed two complete tidal cycles, but no correlation between plume location or intensity and tides is apparent in the data. Additional analyses will constrain plume strength as a function of water depth. Heeschen et al., GRL, v. 30, 2003.
OS32A-04
Gas and Fluid Expulsion at the Congo continental margin identfied from seismoacoustic data
During R/V Meteor Cruise M76/3 in June/July 2008, seismic and acoustic methods were applied to study the distribution of seep structures and associated subsurface feeder systems. From the combination of swath bathymetry and backscatter, sediment echosounder, water column imaging and high-resolution multichannel seismics, numerous new seep sites could be identified. From previous studies, a few 'giant' pockmarks had been documented, representing deeply rooted migration zones and a few hundred meters wide and a few meters to more than ten meters deep depressions as the morphological expressions of fluid and gas expulsions. The new studies confirmed a widespread occurrence of such structures for the wider area of the continental margins of Gabon, Congo and Angola in deeper water. Spatial surveys have further shown that seep structures are present on different scales, in particular also with smaller sizes of tens of meters in diameter and a morphology on the meter scale. While these structures seem to be related to relatively shallow gas reservoirs, larger structures reveal roots to gas reservoirs in several hundred meters sub-bottom depth. At some of these locations, gas flares could be identified in the water column of some hundred to over thousand meters height. In comparison of working areas north and south of the Congo Canyon, it became evident that different driving forces and sedimentary and tectonic boundary conditions may be responsible for fluid seepage and its distribution. While in the North a thick sediment cover restricts seepage to selected zones of weakness and higher permeability, salt diapirism in the South is massively fracturing overlying sediments, have created numerous promising morphological features at the seafloor. However, only few active seeps could be found in the area of salt diapirism. Future work will particularly focus on the details of seep systems, the comparison with site-specific information from coring and video surveys and the integrated interpretation of the acoustic and seismic data sets.
OS32A-05
Conditions Under Which Gaseous Methane Will Fracture Ocean Sediments and Penetrate Through the Hydrate Stability Zone: Modeling Multiphase Flow and Sediment Mechanics at the Pore-Scale
We simulate two competing processes, capillary invasion and fracture opening, by which free methane gas penetrates the Hydrate Stability Zone (HSZ), and we predict the in situ conditions in which the methane propagates fractures and flows all the way through the HSZ and into the ocean, bypassing hydrate formation. In our fully coupled model, we use the discrete element method to simulate the sediment mechanics, and we account for the pore fluid pressures and surface tension between the gas and brine by incorporating additional sets of pressure forces and adhesion forces. We find that given enough capillary pressure, the main factor controlling the mode of gas transport is the grain size, and show that coarse-grain sediments favor capillary invasion and widespread hydrate formation, whereas fracturing dominates in fine-grain sediments. We calculate the fracturing threshold as a function of grain size, capillary pressure, and seafloor depth, and place these results in the context of naturally-occurring hydrate systems.
OS32A-06
Estimation of Methane Concentration by Kinetic Modeling and Its Implication for the Top of Gas Hydrate Depth
Besides temperature and pressure, dissolved methane concentration is a very important factor needed to be taken into consideration while estimating gas hydrate budget. However, due to the serious lost of methane during core recovery, reliable methane concentration are usually difficult to determine. In this study, the concentration of various dissolved and solid species and carbon isotope of methane and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) were evaluated by reactive transport modeling. The reaction rates of various biogeochemical processes were first determined by our model; then, the concentration of methane could be re-constructed. The top of the gas hydrate zone (TGHZ) could be defined as the intersection between re-constructed methane concentration and the solubility of methane at given temperature and pressure. In this study, we use the data of cored samples collected from several cruises in the potential gas hydrate reservoir areas offshore SW Taiwan since 2007. The diffusion-advection-reaction model proposed by Wallmann et al. (2006) was modified and applied in this study to model the methane concentration and carbon isotope signature simultaneously. According to our model results the depth of TGHZ could range from few meters to several tens of meters which would reduce the previous estimates of the gas hydrate inventory off Taiwan significantly. Thus, for most of areas in SW Taiwan where methane flux is relatively low (< 10-5 mmol/cm2/yr), the estimation of gas hydrate budget need to be reconsidered.
OS32A-07
A recent investigation of gas hydrate as a factor in northern Cascadia accretionary margin frontal ridge slope failures and cold seep biogeochemistry
In August 2008, a research expedition was conducted on the n. Cascadia margin by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) as part of the Earth Science Sector, Natural Gas Hydrate Program, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). This collaboration included researchers from several universities as well as Canadian and U.S. government agencies. The primary objective was to determine the impact of gas hydrate on slope stability along the frontal ridges of the N. Cascadia accretionary wedge. Multibeam bathymetry data indicate numerous slope collapse features along the frontal ridges. To constrain the cause and timing of the collapse features, sedimentological, physical property and geochemical studies were conducted at several slump areas. Four cores were collected from within the headwall, apron and sole of the slumped material of 'Lopez Slide', a failure area detected prior to IODP Expedition 311. Directly south of Lopez Slide at a slump feature named 'Slipstream Slide', a 5-core transect extended from the headwall scarp to the toe of the slide deposits. Slipstream Slide is a series of en echelon box-like slump blocks bounded by transverse faults that cross-cut that frontal ridge. One additional core from a slump-feature further south (Chunk Slide) was also recovered. Onboard analyses suggest that the slump occurrences are not related to the last mega-thrust earthquake that occurred at the N. Cascadia subduction zone in January 1700. However, the slumps could have been triggered by earlier such earthquakes. Further analyses and age determinations are underway to confirm the linkages between slumps and the mega-thrust earthquake cycle and other possible trigger mechanisms such as eustatic sea level changes. The secondary objective of the expedition was a multidisciplinary program that included microbiological, geochemical, geophysical and sedimentological studies designed to advance our understanding of the environmental factors that control methane fluxes and oxidation at cold seeps of active methane venting (seen as bubble-plumes in echo-sounder data). A series of cores were taken from Bullseye Vent, Barkley Canyon and a newly discovered vent 10 km west of Bullseye Vent. These investigations are closely linked to the NEPTUNE project that will deploy long-term monitoring stations on the N. Cascadia margin in 2009 for methane hydrate studies. Shipboard scientific party in alphabetical order: R. Enkin (NRCan), L. Esteban (NRCan), R. Haacke (NRCan), T.S. Hamilton (Camosun), M. Hogg (Camosun), L. Lapham (Florida State), G. Middleton (NRCan), P. Neelands (NRCan), J. Pohlman (USGS), M. Riedel (McGill), K. Rose (USDOE), A. Schlesinger (UVic), G. Standen (Geoforce), A. Stephenson (UVic), S. Taylor (NRCan), W. Waite (USGS), X. Wang (McGill)
OS32A-08
Geochemical Investigation of Slope Failure on the Northern Cascadia Margin Frontal Ridge
Numerous submarine landslides occur along the seaward side of the northern Cascadia margin's frontal ridge. Bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) are also prevalent beneath the ridge at a sediment depth (~255 mbsf) coincident with the failure of at least one potentially recent slump. By one scenario, the most recent megathrust earthquake on the northern Cascadia margin, which occurred in 1700 A.D., raised the pore pressure and destabilized gas-charged sediment at the BSR depth. If true, the exposed seafloor within the slide's sole would contain gas-charged, sulfate-free sediment immediately following the slope failure. Over time, sulfate would diffuse into the exposed sediment and re-establish an equilibrium sulfate gradient. In this study, three 1-5 km wide collapse structures and the surrounding areas were cored during the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) supported cruise PGC0807 to determine if the failures were related to over- pressurized gas and constrain the age of the slumps. Sulfate and methane gradients were measured from cores typically collected along a transect from the headwall scarp, and down to the toe of the slide. Rapidly decreasing sulfate concentrations with depth (a proxy for enhanced methane flux toward the seafloor) above the headwall of Lopez slump confirms a high background flux on the crest of the ridge. However, within the cores we recovered from the headwall, slide sole and slide deposits at all sites investigated, sulfate was abundant, methane was largely absent and, correspondingly, sulfate gradients were relatively low. On the basis of these results, methane was either lost from the system during or since the slope failure, or was never present in the high concentrations expected at an exhumed BSR. Numerical models that simulate sulfate diffusion following the slump-induced pore water profile perturbations will be utilized to constrain the age of the slope failures. Complementary sedimentological and geotechnical studies from the geochemically analyzed cores are ongoing to understand the primary factors that initiate and trigger slope failures along the frontal ridge of the northern Cascadia margin. Shipboard scientific party in alphabetical order: R. Enkin (NRCan), L. Esteban (NRCan), R. Haacke (NRCan), T.S. Hamilton (Camosun College), M. Hogg (Camosun), L. Lapham (Florida State), G. Middleton (NRCan), P. Neelands (NRCan), J. Pohlman (USGS), M. Riedel (McGill), K. Rose (USDOE), A. Schlesinger (UVic), G. Standen (Geoforce), A. Stephenson (UVic), S. Taylor (NRCan), W. Waite (USGS), X. Wang (McGill)