Seabed fluid flow : the impact of geology, biology and the marine environment

Library	Item Barcode	Call Number	Material Type	Item Category 1	Status
Searching... PSZ JB	30000010148306	GC87 J82 2007	Open Access Book	Book	Searching... Unknown
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Seabed fluid flow involves the flow of gases and liquids through the seabed. Such fluids have been found to leak through the seabed into the marine environment in seas and oceans around the world - from the coasts to deep ocean trenches. This geological phenomenon has widespread implications for the sub-seabed, seabed, and marine environments. Seabed fluid flow affects seabed morphology, mineralization, and benthic ecology. Natural fluid emissions also have a significant impact on the composition of the oceans and atmosphere; and gas hydrates and hydrothermal minerals are potential future resources. This book describes seabed fluid flow features and processes, and demonstrates their importance to human activities and natural environments. It is targeted at research scientists and professionals with interests in the marine environment. Colour versions of many of the illustrations, and additional material - most notably feature location maps - can be found at www.cambridge.org/9780521819503.

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Judd and Hovland, both geologists, discuss the flow of gases and liquids through the seabed and into the marine environment. This book is supported by a Web site that contains additional material, such as color photographs and location maps. There are 11 chapters, an extensive list of references, and a 33-page subject and geographic index. The volume is profusely illustrated with black-and-white photographs and graphs. The chapters include an introduction to seabed fluid flow (chapter 1) and a survey of global observations on a region-by-region basis (chapter 3, "Seabed Fluid Flow around the World"). Chapter 4 places the varied geographic locations into the context of oceanographic and tectonic settings, and chapter 5 carries this one step further in an examination of the nature and origins of flowing fluids. Chapters 6-9 evaluate such diverse topics as seabed fluid flow and biology (chapter 8) and mineral precipitation (chapter 9). The final two chapters discuss the impacts of seabed fluid flow on the hydrosphere and atmosphere and the implications for humankind. For research scientists involved in the study of the marine environment and in exploration of the seabed for mineral resources. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students through professionals. J. T. Andrews University of Colorado at Boulder

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xii
Note on the accompanying website	p. xiii
List of maps on the accompanying website	p. xiv
List of contributed presentations on the accompanying website	p. xv
1 Introduction to seabed fluid flow	p. 1
2 Pockmarks, shallow gas, and seeps: an initial appraisal	p. 7
2.1 The Scotian Shelf: the early years	p. 7
2.2 North Sea pockmarks	p. 8
2.2.1 History of discovery	p. 9
2.2.2 Pockmark distribution	p. 10
2.2.3 Pockmark size and density	p. 10
2.2.4 Pockmark morphology	p. 11
2.2.5 Evidence of gas	p. 15
2.3 Detailed surveys of North Sea pockmarks and seeps	p. 18
2.3.1 The South Fladen Pockmark Study Area	p. 18
2.3.2 Tommeliten: Norwegian Block 1/9	p. 25
2.3.3 Norwegian Block 25/7	p. 30
2.3.4 The Holene: Norwegian Block 24/9	p. 33
2.3.5 The Norwegian Trench	p. 36
2.3.6 Gullfaks	p. 36
2.3.7 Giant pockmarks: UK Block 15/25	p. 41
2.4 Conclusions	p. 44
3 Seabed fluid flow around the world	p. 45
3.1 Introduction	p. 45
3.2 The eastern Arctic	p. 45
3.2.1 The Barents Sea	p. 45
3.2.2 Hakon Mosby Mud Volcano	p. 47
3.3 Scandinavia	p. 49
3.3.1 Fjords in northern Norway	p. 49
3.3.2 The Norwegian Sea	p. 50
3.3.3 The Skagerrak	p. 52
3.3.4 The Kattegat	p. 52
3.4 The Baltic Sea	p. 56
3.4.1 Eckernforde Bay	p. 56
3.4.2 Stockholm Archipelago, Sweden	p. 58
3.5 Around the British Isles	p. 59
3.5.1 Pockmarks, domes, and seeps	p. 60
3.5.2 'Freak' sandwaves	p. 60
3.5.3 Methane-derived authigenic carbonate	p. 62
3.5.4 The Atlantic Margin	p. 62
3.6 Iberia	p. 66
3.6.1 The Rias of Galicia, northwest Spain	p. 66
3.6.2 Gulf of Cadiz	p. 67
3.6.3 Ibiza	p. 69
3.7 Africa	p. 69
3.7.1 The Niger Delta and Fan	p. 69
3.7.2 The continental slope of West Africa	p. 70
3.8 The Mid-Atlantic Ridge	p. 72
3.9 The Adriatic Sea	p. 72
3.9.1 Seeps and carbonates of the northern Adriatic	p. 73
3.9.2 Pockmarks, seeps, and mud diapirs in the central Adriatic	p. 73
3.10 The eastern Mediterranean	p. 74
3.10.1 Offshore Greece	p. 75
3.10.2 Mediterranean Ridge	p. 76
3.10.3 The Anaximander Mountains	p. 79
3.10.4 Eratosthenes Seamount	p. 79
3.10.5 Nile Delta and Fan	p. 79
3.11 The Black Sea	p. 81
3.11.1 Turkish Coast	p. 81
3.11.2 Offshore Bulgaria	p. 81
3.11.3 Northwestern Black Sea	p. 81
3.11.4 Central and northern Black Sea	p. 83
3.11.5 The 'underwater swamps' of the east Black Sea abyssal plain	p. 84
3.11.6 Offshore Georgia	p. 85
3.12 Inland seas of Eurasia	p. 85
3.12.1 The Caspian Sea	p. 85
3.12.2 Lake Baikal	p. 86
3.13 The Red Sea	p. 87
3.14 The Arabian Gulf	p. 88
3.14.1 Setting	p. 88
3.14.2 Seabed features	p. 88
3.14.3 Strait of Hormuz	p. 90
3.15 The Indian subcontinent	p. 91
3.15.1 The Makran coast	p. 91
3.15.2 The western coast of India	p. 92
3.15.3 The eastern coast of the subcontinent	p. 92
3.15.4 Indian Ocean vent fauna	p. 93
3.16 South China Sea	p. 93
3.16.1 Offshore Brunei	p. 93
3.16.2 Offshore Vietnam	p. 93
3.16.3 HongKong	p. 93
3.16.4 Taiwan	p. 93
3.17 Australasia	p. 94
3.17.1 Sawu Sea	p. 94
3.17.2 Timor Sea	p. 94
3.17.3 New Britain and the Manus basins	p. 95
3.17.4 New Zealand	p. 97
3.18 Western Pacific	p. 98
3.18.1 Silicic dome volcanism in the Mariana Back-arc Basin	p. 98
3.18.2 Serpentine mud volcanoes near the Mariana Trench	p. 98
3.18.3 The Yellow and East China seas	p. 99
3.18.4 Offshore Korea	p. 99
3.18.5 Japan	p. 99
3.18.6 Sea of Okhotsk	p. 101
3.18.7 Piip Submarine Volcano, east of Kamchatka	p. 103
3.19 Offshore Alaska	p. 103
3.19.1 Bering Sea	p. 103
3.19.2 Gulf of Alaska	p. 105
3.19.3 The Aleutian Subduction Zone	p. 106
3.20 British Columbia	p. 107
3.20.1 Queen Charlotte Sound	p. 107
3.20.2 The Fraser Delta	p. 107
3.21 Cascadia	p. 109
3.21.1 Hydrate Ridge	p. 109
3.21.2 Axial Seamount	p. 110
3.22 California	p. 111
3.22.1 Northern California	p. 111
3.22.2 Monterey Bay	p. 112
3.22.3 Big Sur	p. 114
3.22.4 Santa Barbara Channel	p. 115
3.22.5 Malibu Point	p. 117
3.23 Ocean spreading centres of the east Pacific	p. 117
3.23.1 Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California	p. 117
3.24 Central and South America	p. 118
3.24.1 Costa Rica	p. 118
3.24.2 Peru	p. 119
3.24.3 The Argentine Basin	p. 120
3.24.4 The Mouth of the Amazon	p. 120
3.25 The Caribbean	p. 120
3.25.1 Barbados Accretionary Wedge	p. 121
3.25.2 Birth of Chatham Island, Trinidad	p. 122
3.26 Gulf of Mexico	p. 122
3.27 The eastern seaboard, USA	p. 126
3.27.1 Cape Lookout Bight	p. 126
3.27.2 Atlantic Continental Margin	p. 126
3.27.3 Chesapeake Bay	p. 127
3.27.4 Active pockmarks, Gulf of Maine	p. 128
3.28 The Great Lakes	p. 129
3.28.1 Ring-shaped depressions, Lake Superior	p. 129
3.28.2 Pockmark-like depressions, Lake Michigan	p. 129
3.29 Eastern Canada	p. 129
3.29.1 The Scotian and Labrador shelves, and the Grand Banks	p. 129
3.29.2 The Laurentian Fan	p. 131
3.29.3 The Baffin Shelf	p. 131
3.30 Finale	p. 132
4 The contexts of seabed fluid flow	p. 134
4.1 Introduction	p. 134
4.2 Oceanographic settings	p. 134
4.2.1 Coastal settings	p. 134
4.2.2 Continental shelves	p. 136
4.2.3 Continental slopes and rises	p. 136
4.2.4 Abyssal plains	p. 136
4.3 Plate tectonics settings	p. 136
4.3.1 Divergent (constructive) plate boundaries	p. 137
4.3.2 Convergent (destructive) plate boundaries	p. 138
4.3.3 Transform plate boundaries	p. 140
4.3.4 Intraplate igneous activity	p. 140
4.3.5 Serpentinite seamounts	p. 142
4.4 Conclusion	p. 143
5 The nature and origins of flowing fluids	p. 144
5.1 Introduction	p. 144
5.2.1 Magma and volcanic fluids	p. 144
5.2.2 Geothermal systems	p. 145
5.2.3 Hydrothermal circulation systems	p. 145
5.2.4 Exothermic hydrothermal systems	p. 149
5.3 Water flows	p. 150
5.3.1 Submarine groundwater discharge	p. 150
5.3.2 Expelled pore water	p. 150
5.4 Petroleum fluids	p. 151
5.4.1 Organic origins	p. 151
5.4.2 Microbial methane	p. 153
5.4.3 Thermogenic hydrocarbons	p. 154
5.4.4 Hydrothermal and abiogenic petroleum	p. 157
5.5 Discriminating between the origins	p. 162
6 Shallow gas and gas hydrates	p. 163
6.1 Introduction	p. 163
6.1.1 The character and formation of gas bubbles	p. 163
6.2 Geophysical indicators of shallow gas	p. 165
6.2.1 The acoustic response of gas bubbles	p. 166
6.2.2 Seismic evidence of gassy sediments	p. 167
6.2.3 Novel gas detection and mapping	p. 178
6.2.4 Seasonal shallow gas depth variations	p. 178
6.3 Gas hydrates - a special type of accumulation	p. 178
6.3.1 Nature and formation	p. 179
6.3.2 Gas hydrates and fluid flow	p. 182
6.3.3 The BSR	p. 183
6.3.4 Other hydrate indicators	p. 186
6.3.5 Dissociation	p. 187
7 Migration and seabed features	p. 189
7.1 Introduction	p. 189
7.2 Pockmarks and related features	p. 190
7.2.1 Distribution	p. 191
7.2.2 Pockmarks and fluid flow	p. 192
7.2.3 Pockmark activity	p. 194
7.3 Mud volcanoes and mud diapirs	p. 195
7.3.1 The distribution of mud volcanoes and mud diapirs	p. 197
7.3.2 Mud-volcano morphology	p. 198
7.3.3 Mud-volcano emission products	p. 201
7.3.4 Mud-volcano activity	p. 202
7.4 Related features	p. 205
7.4.1 Seabed doming	p. 206
7.4.2 Collapse depressions	p. 206
7.4.3 Freak sandwaves	p. 206
7.4.4 Shallow mud diapirs and mud volcanoes	p. 206
7.4.5 Red Sea diapirs	p. 207
7.4.6 Diatremes	p. 208
7.4.7 Sand intrusions and extrusions	p. 209
7.4.8 Polygonal faults	p. 211
7.4.9 Genetic relationships	p. 212
7.5 Movers and shakers: influential factors	p. 213
7.5.1 The deep environment	p. 214
7.5.2 Driving forces	p. 215
7.5.3 Fluid migration	p. 216
7.5.4 Modelling the processes	p. 226
7.5.5 Triggering events	p. 228
7.5.6 Ice-related influences	p. 237
7.6 A unified explanation	p. 239
7.6.1 Fundamental principles	p. 239
7.6.2 Explaining seeps	p. 240
7.6.3 The formation of pockmarks and related seabed features	p. 242
7.6.4 Mud volcanoes and diapirism	p. 245
7.6.5 Alternative explanations	p. 246
7.7 Fossil features	p. 247
7.8 Related features - looking further afield	p. 247
8 Seabed fluid flow and biology	p. 248
8.1 Seabed fluid flow habitats	p. 248
8.1.1 Cold seeps on continental shelves	p. 248
8.1.2 Deep-water cold seeps	p. 251
8.1.3 The link between hydrocarbons and cold-seep communities	p. 253
8.1.4 Shallow groundwater discharge sites	p. 253
8.1.5 Deep-water groundwater discharge sites	p. 255
8.1.6 Coral reefs and seabed fluid flow	p. 255
8.1.7 Hydrothermal vents	p. 260
8.2 Fauna and seabed fluid flow	p. 262
8.2.1 Microbes - where it all begins	p. 262
8.2.2 Living together: symbiosis and seeps	p. 269
8.2.3 Non-symbiotic seep fauna	p. 273
8.3 Seeps and marine ecology	p. 276
8.3.1 Geographical distribution	p. 277
8.3.2 Communities as indicators of seep activity and maturity	p. 278
8.3.3 Do shallow-water cold seeps support chemosynthetic communities?	p. 280
8.3.4 Do seeps contribute to the marine food web?	p. 284
8.3.5 Is fluid flow relevant to global biodiversity?	p. 286
8.3.6 The 'deep biosphere' and the origins of life on Earth	p. 287
8.4 A glimpse into the past	p. 288
8.4.1 Fossil cold-seep communities	p. 288
9 Seabed fluid flow and mineral precipitation	p. 290
9.1 Introduction	p. 290
9.2 Methane-derived authigenic carbonates	p. 290
9.2.1 North Sea 'pockmark carbonates'	p. 290
9.2.2 'Bubbling Reefs' in the Kattegat	p. 291
9.2.3 Carbonate mineralogy	p. 291
9.2.4 Other modern authigenic carbonates	p. 293
9.2.5 Isotopic indications of origin	p. 295
9.2.6 MDAC formation mechanism	p. 295
9.2.7 Associated minerals	p. 297
9.2.8 MDAC chimneys	p. 299
9.2.9 Self-sealing seeps	p. 301
9.2.10 MDAC: block formation	p. 302
9.2.11 Carbonate mounds	p. 302
9.2.12 Fossil seep carbonates	p. 304
9.2.13 Summary of MDAC occurrences	p. 307
9.3 Other fluid-flow-related carbonates	p. 307
9.3.1 Microbialites and stromatolites	p. 308
9.3.2 Ikaite	p. 311
9.3.3 Whitings	p. 311
9.3.4 Carbonates and serpentinites	p. 313
9.4 Hydrothermal seeps and mineralisation	p. 314
9.4.1 Sediment-filtered hydrothermal fluid flow	p. 315
9.4.2 Anhydrite mounds	p. 316
9.4.3 Hydrothermal salt stocks	p. 317
9.5 Other mineral precipitates	p. 318
9.5.1 Iron from submarine groundwater discharge	p. 318
9.5.2 Phosphates on seamounts, guyots, and atolls	p. 318
9.6 Ferromanganese nodules	p. 319
9.7 Final thoughts	p. 321
10 Impacts on the hydrosphere and atmosphere	p. 323
10.1 Introduction	p. 323
10.2 Hydrothermal vents and plumes	p. 323
10.2.1 Plumes	p. 324
10.2.2 Plume composition	p. 325
10.2.3 Plumes and the composition of the oceans	p. 326
10.2.4 Heating the oceans	p. 328
10.3 Submarine groundwater discharge	p. 329
10.3.1 Detection and quantification	p. 329
10.3.2 Water quality	p. 330
10.4 Seeps	p. 331
10.4.1 Identifying seeps	p. 331
10.4.2 Eruptions and blowouts	p. 333
10.4.3 Quantifying seeps	p. 335
10.4.4 The fate of the seabed flux	p. 338
10.5 Methane in the 'normal' ocean	p. 341
10.5.1 Rivers, estuaries, and lagoons	p. 341
10.5.2 The open ocean	p. 342
10.5.3 The influence of"seabed methane sources	p. 344
10.6 Emissions to the atmosphere	p. 345
10.6.1 Methane emissions from the oceans	p. 345
10.6.2 Seabed sources of atmospheric methane	p. 347
10.7 Global carbon cycle	p. 349
10.8 Limiting global climate change	p. 350
10.8.1 Quaternary ice ages	p. 350
10.8.2 Earlier events	p. 353
10.9 Afterword	p. 353
11 Implications for man	p. 355
11.1 Introduction	p. 355
11.2 Seabed slope instability	p. 355
11.2.1 Gas-related slope failures: case studies	p. 356
11.2.2 Associated tsunamis	p. 359
11.2.3 Why do submarine slopes fail?	p. 359
11.2.4 Predicting slope stability	p. 361
11.2.5 Impacts of slope failures on offshore operations	p. 362
11.3 Drilling hazards	p. 362
11.3.1 Blowouts	p. 362
11.3.2 Hydrogen sulphide	p. 366
11.3.3 Drilling and gas hydrates	p. 367
11.4 Hazards to seabed installations	p. 369
11.4.1 Pockmarks as seabed obstacles	p. 369
11.4.2 Trenching through MDAC	p. 369
11.4.3 Foundation problems	p. 370
11.4.4 Effects of gas hydrates	p. 370
11.5 Eruptions and natural blowouts	p. 371
11.5.1 Gas-induced buoyancy loss	p. 372
11.6 Benefits	p. 374
11.6.1 Metallic ore deposits	p. 374
11.6.2 Exploiting gas seeps	p. 374
11.6.3 Gas hydrates - fuel of the future?	p. 375
11.6.4 Technological challenge	p. 376
11.6.5 Benefits to fishing?	p. 383
11.6.6 Seeps, vents, and biotechnology	p. 383
11.7 Impacts of human activities on seabed fluid flow and associated features	p. 383
11.7.1 Potential triggers	p. 383
11.7.2 Environmental protection	p. 384
References	p. 387
Index	p. 442

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