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Interactions between deep formation fluid and gas hydrate dynamics inferred from pore fluid geochemistry at active pockmarks of the Vestnesa Ridge, west Svalbard margin
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Geological Sciences. Geological Survey of Norway (NGU), Norway; UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway.
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Number of Authors: 102021 (English)In: Marine and Petroleum Geology, ISSN 0264-8172, E-ISSN 1873-4073, Vol. 127, article id 104957Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Seafloor seepage sites along the Vestnesa Ridge off west-Svalbard have been, for decades, a natural laboratory for the studies of fluid flow and gas hydrate dynamics along passive continental margins. The lack of ground truth evidence for fluid composition and gas hydrate abundance deep in the sediment sequence however prohibits us from further assessing the current model of pockmark evolution from the region. A MARUM-MeBo 70 drilling cruise in 2016 aims to advance our understanding of the system by recovering sediments tens of meters below seafloor from two active pockmarks along Vestnesa Ridge. We report pore fluid composition data focusing on dissolved chloride, stable isotopes of water (delta O-18 and delta D), and the isotopic composition of dissolved boron (delta B-11). From one of the seepage sites, we detect a saline formation water with two layers where gas hydrates were recovered. This saline formation pore fluid is characterized by elevated chloride concentrations (up to 616 mM), high B/Cl ratios (9 x 10(-4) mol/mol), high delta O-18 and delta D isotopic signatures (+0.6 parts per thousand and +3.8 parts per thousand, respectively) and low 811B signatures (+35.0 parts per thousand), which collectively hint to a high temperature modification at great depths. Based on the dissolved chloride concentration profiles, we estimated up to 47% of pore space occupied by gas hydrate in the sediments shallower than 11.5 mbsf. The observation of bubble fabric in the recovered gas hydrates suggests formation during past periods of intensive gaseous methane seepage. The presence of these gas hydrates without associated positive anomalies in dissolved chloride concentrations however suggests that the decomposition of gas hydrate is as fast as its formation. Such a state of gas hydrates can be attributed to a relatively low methane supply transported by the saline formation water at present. Our findings based on pore fluid composition corroborate previous inferences along Vestnesa Ridge that fluids sustaining seepage have migrated from great depths and that the variable gaseous and aqueous phases through the gas hydrate stability zone control the distributions of authigenic carbonates and gas hydrates.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2021. Vol. 127, article id 104957
Keywords [en]
Pockmark, Gas hydrate, MeBo drilling, Isotope geochemistry
National Category
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-192011DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.104957ISI: 000630924600002OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-192011DiVA, id: diva2:1544219
Available from: 2021-04-14 Created: 2021-04-14 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved

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Hong, Wei-Li

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