Pore water and solid phase data of two sediment cores obtained in the Makran area offshore pakistan during expedition M 74/3 in 2007

Fuente: PANGAEA
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fischer, David, Mogollón, José M, Strasser, Michael, Pape, Thomas, Bohrmann, Gerhard, Fekete, Noemi, Spieß, Volkhard, Kasten, Sabine
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867171366321520640
author Fischer, David
Mogollón, José M
Strasser, Michael
Pape, Thomas
Bohrmann, Gerhard
Fekete, Noemi
Spieß, Volkhard
Kasten, Sabine
author_facet Fischer, David
Mogollón, José M
Strasser, Michael
Pape, Thomas
Bohrmann, Gerhard
Fekete, Noemi
Spieß, Volkhard
Kasten, Sabine
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is abundant in marine sediments**1, 2. Submarine seepage of methane-dominated hydrocarbons is heterogeneous in space and time, and mechanisms that can trigger episodic seep events are poorly understood**2, 3, 4. For example, critical gas pressures have been predicted to develop beneath impermeable sediments that bear gas hydrates, making them susceptible to mechanical failure and gas release**5, 6. Gas hydrates often occur in seismically active regions, but the role of earthquakes as triggers of hydrocarbon seepage through gas-hydrate-bearing sediments has been only superficially addressed**7, 8. Here we present geochemical analyses of sediment cores retrieved from the convergent margin off Pakistan. We find that a substantial increase in the upward flux of gas occurred within a few decades of a Mw 8.1 earthquake in 1945-the strongest earthquake reported for the Arabian Sea. Our seismic reflection data suggest that co-seismic shaking fractured gas-hydrate-bearing sediments, creating pathways for the free gas to migrate from a shallow reservoir within the gas hydrate stability zone into the water column. We conservatively estimate that 3.26×10**8 mol of methane have been discharged from the seep site since the earthquake. We therefore suggest that hydrocarbon seepage triggered by earthquakes needs to be considered in local and global carbon budgets at active continental margins.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_818255
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2013
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Pore water and solid phase data of two sediment cores obtained in the Makran area offshore pakistan during expedition M 74/3 in 2007
Fischer, David
Mogollón, José M
Strasser, Michael
Pape, Thomas
Bohrmann, Gerhard
Fekete, Noemi
Spieß, Volkhard
Kasten, Sabine
Center for Marine Environmental Sciences; MARUM
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is abundant in marine sediments**1, 2. Submarine seepage of methane-dominated hydrocarbons is heterogeneous in space and time, and mechanisms that can trigger episodic seep events are poorly understood**2, 3, 4. For example, critical gas pressures have been predicted to develop beneath impermeable sediments that bear gas hydrates, making them susceptible to mechanical failure and gas release**5, 6. Gas hydrates often occur in seismically active regions, but the role of earthquakes as triggers of hydrocarbon seepage through gas-hydrate-bearing sediments has been only superficially addressed**7, 8. Here we present geochemical analyses of sediment cores retrieved from the convergent margin off Pakistan. We find that a substantial increase in the upward flux of gas occurred within a few decades of a Mw 8.1 earthquake in 1945-the strongest earthquake reported for the Arabian Sea. Our seismic reflection data suggest that co-seismic shaking fractured gas-hydrate-bearing sediments, creating pathways for the free gas to migrate from a shallow reservoir within the gas hydrate stability zone into the water column. We conservatively estimate that 3.26×10**8 mol of methane have been discharged from the seep site since the earthquake. We therefore suggest that hydrocarbon seepage triggered by earthquakes needs to be considered in local and global carbon budgets at active continental margins.
title Pore water and solid phase data of two sediment cores obtained in the Makran area offshore pakistan during expedition M 74/3 in 2007
topic Center for Marine Environmental Sciences; MARUM
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.818255