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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Index Terms

  • Marine Geology and Geophysics: Heat flow (benthic)
  • Marine Geology and Geophysics: Hydrothermal systems
  • Marine Geology and Geophysics: Gas and hydrate systems
  • Marine Geology and Geophysics: Marine hydrogeology
  • Marine Geology and Geophysics: Marine seismics

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 32, L24617, 4 PP., 2005
doi:10.1029/2005GL024862

Coupled geophysical constraints on heat flow and fluid flux at a salt diapir

Matthew J. Hornbach

University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, Austin, Texas, USA

Carolyn Ruppel

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Demian M. Saffer

Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Cindy Lee Van Dover

Department of Biology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

W. Steven Holbrook

Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA

Within a largely steady-state low-flux passive margin, a seafloor seep at the Blake Ridge Diapir transiently releases methane gas and sulfide-laden fluids. Until now, fluid flux estimates on the diapir have been too small to reconcile with seafloor gas emission and the survival of a chemosynthetic community at the seep. Analysis of heat flow and high-resolution seismic data collected across the diapir confirms fluid flux through a sub-vertical chimney with apparent fluid velocities between 20 to 400 m ky−1, ∼100 times larger than previous estimates derived from pore water geochemical data. Away from the chimneys, observations indicate that conductive thermal processes and low fluid fluxes dominate in the hydrate reservoir and that dissolution of the salt diapir does not control the thickness of the hydrate stability zone. The results suggest that, despite limited fluid flux in the larger area, focused flux can be significant enough to sustain a seafloor chemosynthetic community at the diapir.

Received 5 October 2005; accepted 21 November 2005; published 28 December 2005.

Citation: Hornbach, M. J., C. Ruppel, D. M. Saffer, C. L. Van Dover, and W. S. Holbrook (2005), Coupled geophysical constraints on heat flow and fluid flux at a salt diapir, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L24617, doi:10.1029/2005GL024862.

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