skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: An integrated view of the methane system in the pockmarks at Vestnesa Ridge, 79°N

Abstract

The Vestnesa Ridge is a NW-SE trending, ~ 100 km-long, 1–2 km-thick contourite sediment section located in the Arctic Ocean, west of Svalbard, at 79°N. Pockmarks align along the ridge summit at water depths of ~ 1200 m; they are ~ 700 m in diameter and ~ 10 m deep relative to the surrounding seafloor. Observations of methane seepage in this area have been reported since 2008. In this report we summarize and integrate the available information to date and report on the first detailed seafloor imaging and camera-guided multicore sampling at two of the most active pockmarks along Vestnesa Ridge, named Lomvi and Lunde. We correlate seafloor images with seismically defined subseafloor structures, providing a geological and ecological context to better understand pockmark formation. Subbottom and seismic surveys, water column imaging, geochemical data and seafloor observations indicate ongoing fluid flow at these pockmarks. Visual inspection and sampling using a high-resolution deep-sea camera and multicorer system show exposed gas hydrate and authigenic carbonate in association with biota within two of these pockmarks. Distributed methane venting at both Lomvi and Lunde supports extensive chemosynthetic communities that include filamentous sulfide-oxidizing bacteria and siboglinid tubeworms, all of which utilize chemical energy provided bymore » the seeping fluids. Focused venting forms shallow gas hydrate, and sustains localized gas discharge from 50-m wide pits within the pockmarks. Cycles of carbonate precipitation and/or exhumation of carbonate deposits are indicated by scattered blocks of various size, pavements, and massive carbonate blocks up to 3 m high. Consistent with other observations along continental margin settings, we show that the extensive authigenic carbonate deposits in the Vestnesa pockmarks represent an important and prolonged methane carbon sink that prevents much of the upwardly flowing methane from reaching the overlying ocean.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [6];  [7];  [7]
  1. UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromso (Norway)
  2. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA (United States)
  3. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris (France)
  4. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR (United States)
  5. University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
  6. UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromso (Norway); Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim (Norway)
  7. University of Girona (Spain)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE); National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1534073
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1550440
Grant/Contract Number:  
FE0013531; OCE-1154266
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Marine Geology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 390; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0025-3227
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; fluid expulsions; methane; pockmarks; gas flares; seeps; gas hydrate; photomosaicing; carbonate concretions; chemosynthetic organisms; Vestnesa; Arctic Ocean

Citation Formats

Panieri, Giuliana, Bünz, Stefan, Fornari, Daniel J., Escartin, Javier, Serov, Pavel, Jansson, Pär, Torres, Marta E., Johnson, Joel E., Hong, WeiLi, Sauer, Simone, Garcia, Rafael, and Gracias, Nuno. An integrated view of the methane system in the pockmarks at Vestnesa Ridge, 79°N. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2017.06.006.
Panieri, Giuliana, Bünz, Stefan, Fornari, Daniel J., Escartin, Javier, Serov, Pavel, Jansson, Pär, Torres, Marta E., Johnson, Joel E., Hong, WeiLi, Sauer, Simone, Garcia, Rafael, & Gracias, Nuno. An integrated view of the methane system in the pockmarks at Vestnesa Ridge, 79°N. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2017.06.006
Panieri, Giuliana, Bünz, Stefan, Fornari, Daniel J., Escartin, Javier, Serov, Pavel, Jansson, Pär, Torres, Marta E., Johnson, Joel E., Hong, WeiLi, Sauer, Simone, Garcia, Rafael, and Gracias, Nuno. 2017. "An integrated view of the methane system in the pockmarks at Vestnesa Ridge, 79°N". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2017.06.006. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1534073.
@article{osti_1534073,
title = {An integrated view of the methane system in the pockmarks at Vestnesa Ridge, 79°N},
author = {Panieri, Giuliana and Bünz, Stefan and Fornari, Daniel J. and Escartin, Javier and Serov, Pavel and Jansson, Pär and Torres, Marta E. and Johnson, Joel E. and Hong, WeiLi and Sauer, Simone and Garcia, Rafael and Gracias, Nuno},
abstractNote = {The Vestnesa Ridge is a NW-SE trending, ~ 100 km-long, 1–2 km-thick contourite sediment section located in the Arctic Ocean, west of Svalbard, at 79°N. Pockmarks align along the ridge summit at water depths of ~ 1200 m; they are ~ 700 m in diameter and ~ 10 m deep relative to the surrounding seafloor. Observations of methane seepage in this area have been reported since 2008. In this report we summarize and integrate the available information to date and report on the first detailed seafloor imaging and camera-guided multicore sampling at two of the most active pockmarks along Vestnesa Ridge, named Lomvi and Lunde. We correlate seafloor images with seismically defined subseafloor structures, providing a geological and ecological context to better understand pockmark formation. Subbottom and seismic surveys, water column imaging, geochemical data and seafloor observations indicate ongoing fluid flow at these pockmarks. Visual inspection and sampling using a high-resolution deep-sea camera and multicorer system show exposed gas hydrate and authigenic carbonate in association with biota within two of these pockmarks. Distributed methane venting at both Lomvi and Lunde supports extensive chemosynthetic communities that include filamentous sulfide-oxidizing bacteria and siboglinid tubeworms, all of which utilize chemical energy provided by the seeping fluids. Focused venting forms shallow gas hydrate, and sustains localized gas discharge from 50-m wide pits within the pockmarks. Cycles of carbonate precipitation and/or exhumation of carbonate deposits are indicated by scattered blocks of various size, pavements, and massive carbonate blocks up to 3 m high. Consistent with other observations along continental margin settings, we show that the extensive authigenic carbonate deposits in the Vestnesa pockmarks represent an important and prolonged methane carbon sink that prevents much of the upwardly flowing methane from reaching the overlying ocean.},
doi = {10.1016/j.margeo.2017.06.006},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1534073}, journal = {Marine Geology},
issn = {0025-3227},
number = C,
volume = 390,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jul 08 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Sat Jul 08 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

Journal Article:

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 65 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Methane-related authigenic carbonates of eastern Mediterranean Sea mud volcanoes and their possible relation to gas hydrate destabilisation
journal, December 2000


CH 4 -consuming microorganisms and the formation of carbonate crusts at cold seeps
journal, October 2002


Bivalve shell horizons in seafloor pockmarks of the last glacial‐interglacial transition: a thousand years of methane emissions in the A rctic O cean
journal, December 2015


Tectonic structure, lithology, and hydrothermal signature of the Rainbow massif (Mid-Atlantic Ridge 36°14′N)
journal, September 2014


Gas-charged sediments and large pockmark-like features on the Gulf of Cadiz slope (SW Spain)
journal, March 1996


Cold seeps and benthic habitat on the Pacific margin of Canada
journal, February 2011


Formation of carbonate chimneys in the Mediterranean Sea linked to deep-water oxygen depletion
journal, July 2013


Light hydrocarbons in recent Texas continental shelf and slope sediments
journal, January 1978


Comparative Composition, Diversity and Trophic Ecology of Sediment Macrofauna at Vents, Seeps and Organic Falls
journal, April 2012


Seafloor oxygen consumption fuelled by methane from cold seeps
journal, August 2013


A marine microbial consortium apparently mediating anaerobic oxidation of methane
journal, October 2000


Active gas venting through hydrate-bearing sediments on the Vestnesa Ridge, offshore W-Svalbard
journal, December 2012


Seal bypass systems
journal, August 2007


Acoustic evidences of gas in the continental slope sediments of the Gulf of Cadiz (E Atlantic)
journal, December 2003


Helium transport in sediment pore fluids of the Congo‐Angola margin
journal, January 2009


Pockmark-like depressions near the Goliat hydrocarbon field, Barents Sea: Morphology and genesis
journal, August 2009


Morphologies, classification and genesis of pockmarks, mud volcanoes and associated fluid escape features in the northern Zhongjiannan Basin, South China Sea
journal, December 2015


Active seepage in two contrasting pockmark fields in the Patras and Corinth gulfs, Greece
journal, December 2003


Carbon isotope fractionation during natural gas generation from kerogen
journal, May 1991


Paleo-environmental controls on cold seep carbonate authigenesis in the Sea of Marmara
journal, August 2013


Timescales of methane seepage on the Norwegian margin following collapse of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet
journal, May 2016


Gas hydrate distribution and hydrocarbon maturation north of the Knipovich Ridge, western Svalbard margin: HYDROCARBON MATURATION OFF SVALBARD
journal, March 2016


Contourites in the Fram Strait
journal, January 1993


Opening of the Fram Strait gateway: A review of plate tectonic constraints
journal, April 2008


Acoustic evidence for shallow gas accumulations in the sediments of the Eastern Black Sea*
journal, October 2002


A new deep‐sea towed digital camera and multi‐rock coring system
journal, February 2003


Geophysical evidence for gas geohazards off Iskenderun Bay, SE Turkey
journal, December 2004


1300-m-high rising bubbles from mud volcanoes at 2080m in the Black Sea: Hydroacoustic characteristics and temporal variability
journal, April 2006


Patterns of carbonate authigenesis at the Kouilou pockmarks on the Congo deep-sea fan
journal, January 2010


Formation of pockmarks by pore-water escape
journal, September 1985


A pockmark field in the Patras Gulf (Greece) and its activation during the 14/7/93 seismic event
journal, March 1996


New Perspectives on the Ecology and Evolution of Siboglinid Tubeworms
journal, February 2011


The palaeoecology of the latest Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous hydrocarbon seep carbonates from Spitsbergen, Svalbard
journal, July 2015


Large pockmarks, gas-charged sediments and possible clay diapirs in the Skagerrak
journal, August 1991


Unit-pockmarks and their potential significance for predicting fluid flow
journal, June 2010


Gas hydrate reservoir and active methane-venting province in sediments on <20 Ma young oceanic crust in the Fram Strait, offshore NW-Svalbard
journal, June 2009


Abiotic methane from ultraslow-spreading ridges can charge Arctic gas hydrates
journal, May 2015


Giant sea-bed pockmarks: Evidence for gas escape from Belfast Bay, Maine
journal, January 1994


Pockmarks on the Scotian Shelf
journal, January 1970


The Plio-Pleistocene glaciation of the Barents Sea–Svalbard region: a new model based on revised chronostratigraphy
journal, May 2009


Devensian late-glacial gas escape in the central North Sea
journal, October 1992


Hydrocarbon leakage interpreted on seismic data
journal, August 2009


Maximum Size of a Gas Bubble in the Regime of Automodel Pulsation
journal, January 2005


Fluid flow regimes and growth of a giant pockmark
journal, January 2014


A new 6 Myr stratigraphic framework for the Atlantic–Arctic Gateway
journal, May 2014


A climatic trigger for the giant Troll pockmark field in the northern North Sea
journal, April 2017


Geological and morphological setting of 2778 methane seeps in the Dnepr paleo-delta, northwestern Black Sea
journal, March 2006


Anomalous sea-floor backscatter patterns in methane venting areas, Dnepr paleo-delta, NW Black Sea
journal, June 2008


Novel microbial communities of the Haakon Mosby mud volcano and their role as a methane sink
journal, October 2006


Seafloor cratering and sediment remolding at sites of fluid escape
journal, August 2015


Interpretational applications of spectral decomposition in reservoir characterization
journal, March 1999


Experimental investigation of the hydrodynamics in pockmarks using particle tracking velocimetry
journal, December 2013


Biological Communities at the Florida Escarpment Resemble Hydrothermal Vent Taxa
journal, November 1984


Pockmarks off Big Sur, California
journal, March 2002


Methane-derived carbonates and authigenic pyrite from the northwestern Black Sea
journal, June 2001


Gas hydrate disturbance fabrics of southern Hydrate Ridge sediments (ODP Leg 204): Relationship with texture and physical properties
journal, April 2007


P-Cable High-Resolution Seismic
journal, March 2009


Role of tectonic stress in seepage evolution along the gas hydrate-charged Vestnesa Ridge, Fram Strait: Arctic seepage modulated by tectonics
journal, February 2015


Density and distribution of megafauna at the Håkon Mosby mud volcano (the Barents Sea) based on image analysis
journal, May 2013


Pockmarks in the Northern Congo Fan area, SW Africa: Complex seafloor features shaped by fluid flow
journal, March 2008


Gas emissions at the continental margin west of Svalbard: mapping, sampling, and quantification
journal, January 2014


Massive vein-filling gas hydrate: relation to ongoing gas migration from the deep subsurface in the Gulf of Mexico
journal, May 2001


Geochemical evidence of rapid hydrocarbon venting from a seafloor-piercing mud diapir, Gulf of Mexico continental shelf
journal, July 2003


Ebullition and storm-induced methane release from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf
journal, November 2013


Biogeography, biodiversity and fluid dependence of deep-sea cold-seep communities at active and passive margins
journal, January 1998


Thermogenic methane injection via bubble transport into the upper Arctic Ocean from the hydrate-charged Vestnesa Ridge, Svalbard
journal, May 2014


Anomalous wave velocities in sediments containing gas hydrates
journal, March 1971


Seabed pockmarks associated with deepwater corals off SE Brazilian continental slope, Santos Basin
journal, June 2004


The morphologies and genesis of mega-pockmarks near the Xisha Uplift, South China Sea
journal, June 2011


Fluid and chemical fluxes in and out of sediments hosting methane hydrate deposits on Hydrate Ridge, OR, I: Hydrological provinces
journal, August 2002


Diversity in mussel beds at deep‐sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps
journal, May 2003


Acoustic estimates of methane gas flux from the seabed in a 6000 km 2 region in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
journal, May 2014


Controlling mechanisms of giant deep water pockmarks in the Lower Congo Basin
journal, May 2017


Escape of methane gas from the seabed along the West Spitsbergen continental margin: ARCTIC METHANE GAS PLUMES
journal, August 2009


Carbon and hydrogen isotope systematics of bacterial formation and oxidation of methane
journal, September 1999


Pockmarks: Submarine vents of natural gas or freshwater seeps?
journal, September 1981


Gas-related sea floor craters in the Barents Sea
journal, December 1993


Works referencing / citing this record:

Active degassing across the Maltese Islands (Mediterranean Sea) and implications for its neotectonics
journal, June 2019


Keystone Arctic paleoceanographic proxy association with putative methanotrophic bacteria
journal, July 2018


The benthic foraminiferal δ34S records flux and timing of paleo methane emissions
journal, January 2020


A 160,000-year-old history of tectonically controlled methane seepage in the Arctic
journal, August 2019