Vincent Riboulot

Pockmark formation and evolution in deep water Nigeria: Rapid hydrate growth versus slow hydrate dissolution

In previous works, it has been suggested that dissolution of gas hydrate can be responsible for pockmark formation and evolution in deep water Nigeria. It was shown that those pockmarks which are at different stages of maturation are characterized by a common internal architecture associated to gas hydrate dynamics. New results obtained by drilling into gas hydrate-bearing sediments with the MeBo seafloor drill rig in concert with geotechnical in situ measurements and pore water analyses indicate that pockmark formation and evolution in the study area are mainly controlled by rapid hydrate growth opposed to slow hydrate dissolution. On one hand, positive temperature anomalies, free gas trapped in shallow microfractures near the seafloor and coexistence of free gas and gas hydrate indicate rapid hydrate growth. On the other hand, slow hydrate dissolution is evident by low methane concentrations and almost constant sulfate values 2 m above the Gas Hydrate Occurrence Zone.

Control of Quaternary sea‐level changes on gas seeps

Gas seeping to the seafloor through structures such as pockmarks may contribute significantly to the enrichment of atmospheric greenhouse gases and global warming. Gas seeps in the Gulf of Lions, Western Mediterranean, are cyclical, and pockmark “life” is governed both by sediment accumulation on the continental margin and Quaternary climate changes. Three-dimensional seismic data, correlated to multi-proxy analysis of a deep borehole, have shown that these pockmarks are associated with oblique chimneys. The prograding chimney geometry demonstrates the syn-sedimentary and long-lasting functioning of the gas seeps. Gas chimneys have reworked chronologically constrained stratigraphic units and have functioned episodically, with maximum activity around sea level lowstands. Therefore, we argue that one of the main driving mechanisms responsible for their formation is the variation in hydrostatic pressure driven by relative sea level changes.

Identification of Shear Zones and Their Causal Mechanisms Using a Combination of Cone Penetration Tests and Seismic Data in the Eastern Niger Delta

In a site investigation of the eastern part of the offshore Niger delta, cone penetration tests (CPTU) showed significant drops in tip resistance, associated with decreases in sleeve friction and induced excess pore pressures at the interface between superficial sediments and the underlying deposits of a mass-transport complex (MTC) called NG1. Such signature characteristics of weakened zones are clearly expressed at three sites where the drop in tip resistance reaches more than 40% over 2–3 m-thick intervals. Correlations between CPTU profiles and both 3D and ultrahigh-resolution 2D seismic data suggest that the weakened zones surround syndepositional the within the frontal part of NG1. Hence, weakening appears associated with the remobilization of thrust faults, inducing localized plastic shear. Relatively recent, deep-seated structural movements affecting NG1 are suspected to have remobilized these thrusts faults. When considering the sole influence of gravity, the fact that shear strength is mobilized within scattered, limited zones along steeply dipping syndepositional faults is not favorable for the further development of a continuous slope-parallel failure surface above NG1.

Focused hydrocarbon‐migration in shallow sediments of a pockmark cluster in the Niger Delta (Off Nigeria)

The Niger Delta is one of the largest hydrocarbon basin offshore Africa and it is well known for the presence of active pockmarks on the seabed. During the Guineco-MeBo cruise in 2011, long cores were taken from a pockmark cluster in order to investigate the state of its current activity. Gas hydrates, oil and pore-water were sampled for geochemical studies. The resulting dataset combined with seismic data reveal that shallow hydrocarbon migration in the upper sedimentary section was focused exclusively within the pockmarks. There is a clear tendency for gas migration within the hydrate-bearing pockmarks, and oil migration within the carbonate-rich one. This trend is interpreted as a consequence of hydrate dissolution followed by carbonate precipitation in the course of the evolution of these pockmarks. We also demonstrate that Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane (AOM) is the main process responsible for the depletion of pore-water sulfate, with depths of the Sulfate-Methane Transition Zone (SMTZ) ranging between 1.8 and 33.4 m. In addition, a numerical transport-reaction model was used to estimate the age of hydrate-layer formation from the present-day sulfate profiles. The results show that the sampled hydrate-layers were formed between 21 and 3750 years before present. Overall, this work shows the importance of fluid flow on the dynamics of pockmarks, and the investigated cluster offers new opportunities for future cross-site comparison studies. Our results imply that sudden discharges of gas can create hydrate layers within the upper sedimentary column which can affect the seafloor morphology over few decades. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Submarine Landslides and Contourite Drifts Along the Pianosa Ridge (Corsica Trough, Mediterranean Sea)

The Corsica Trough between the island of Corsica and the mainland of Italy is dominated on its western side by turbidite channel-lobe systems fed by high-gradient rivers during glacial epochs, while the eastern side is markedly different. It is flanked by the Pianosa Ridge, a prominent tectonic structure confining the distal reaches of turbidite lobes and it is characterized by the development of contourite drifts with evident seafloor expression. The southern part of the Pianosa Ridge hosts a submarine landslide called ‘Pianosa Slump’ (PS, 6 km long, 14 km wide). Multichannel Sparker and Chirp profiles reveal the internal geometry of the PS, formed by two sediment bodies of up to 0.85 and 0.34 km3. A buried submarine landslide below the PS shows that mass wasting is a recurrent process in this area. Preliminary results suggest that submarine landslides have volumes and ages comparable with those of turbidite lobes from the Golo turbidite system and contribute actively to their confinement and to basin filling. Relatively steep gradients, rapid contourite drift accumulation during times of sea level lowstands, and fluid escape from distal turbidite sandy lobes are the main factors conducive to seafloor instability.

Freshwater lake to salt-water sea causing widespread hydrate dissociation in the Black Sea

Gas hydrates, a solid established by water and gas molecules, are widespread along the continental margins of the world. Their dynamics have mainly been regarded through the lens of temperature-pressure conditions. A fluctuation in one of these parameters may cause destabilization of gas hydrate-bearing sediments below the seafloor with implications in ocean acidification and eventually in global warming. Here we show throughout an example of the Black Sea, the world’s most isolated sea, evidence that extensive gas hydrate dissociation may occur in the future due to recent salinity changes of the sea water. Recent and forthcoming salt diffusion within the sediment will destabilize gas hydrates by reducing the extension and thickness of their thermodynamic stability zone in a region covering at least 2800 square kilometers which focus seepages at the observed sites. We suspect this process to occur in other world regions (e.g., Caspian Sea, Sea of Marmara).Gas hydrates are maintained via a balance of temperature and pressure, if this changes then destabilization may occur. Here, the authors show instead that due to recent changes in the salinity of the sea water of the Black Sea, gas hydrates may become destabilized with widespread methane seepage.

Gas and seismicity within the Istanbul seismic gap

Understanding micro-seismicity is a critical question for earthquake hazard assessment. Since the devastating earthquakes of Izmit and Duzce in 1999, the seismicity along the submerged section of North Anatolian Fault within the Sea of Marmara (comprising the “Istanbul seismic gap”) has been extensively studied in order to infer its mechanical behaviour (creeping vs locked). So far, the seismicity has been interpreted only in terms of being tectonic-driven, although the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) is known to strike across multiple hydrocarbon gas sources. Here, we show that a large number of the aftershocks that followed the M 5.1 earthquake of July, 25th 2011 in the western Sea of Marmara, occurred within a zone of gas overpressuring in the 1.5–5 km depth range, from where pressurized gas is expected to migrate along the MMF, up to the surface sediment layers. Hence, gas-related processes should also be considered for a complete interpretation of the micro-seismicity (~M < 3) within the Istanbul offshore domain.