Association of oil seeps and chemosynthetic communities with oil discoveries, upper continental slope, Gulf of Mexico

Conference · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:6917183

Sassen, R; Brooks, J M; MacDonald, I R; Kennicutt, II, M C; Guinasso, Jr, N L ^[1]

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1. Texas A M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

A belt of sea-floor oil seeps and chemosynthetic communities has been mapped across the upper continental slope, offshore Louisiana, at depths ranging from 2000 to 1000 m. Visibly oil-stained sediments and thelmogenic gas hydrates have been recovered using piston cores and research submarines. Biomarker fingerprinting of seep oils suggests an origin from deeply buried Cretaceous or Jurassic source rocks characterized by marine kerogen. The abundance of seeps provides a unique opportunity to define their relationship to oil discoveries including Auger, Cooper, Jolliet, Marquette, Vancouver, Popeye, and Mars. Seeps are preferentially distributed over shallow salt ridges that rim intrasalt basin cooking pots, over salt diapirs, and along shallow fault traces near discoveries. Diagnostic seep-related features on the sea floor include gas hydrate mounds and outcrops, pockmarks and craters, mud volcanoes, and carbonate buildups. Many of the 50 chemosynthetic communities including tube worms, mussels, or clams thus far documented in the gulf occur near discoveries. Recent imagery from orbital platforms, including the space shuttle, shows that natural oil slicks are common on the sea surface in this area. Additional mapping of seep distributions should contribute to better defining of the limits of the deep Gulf play fairway.

• OSTI ID: 6917183
• Report Number(s): CONF-9310237--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) Journal Volume: 77:9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BENTHOS
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SLOPE
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLORATION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GAS HYDRATES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
HYDRATES
LOUISIANA
MAPPING
NORTH AMERICA
PETROLEUM
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEEPS
US GULF COAST
USA