Transient discharges from marine hydrocarbon seeps: spatial and temporal variability

Marine hydrocarbon gas emissions at an intense, 20-m-deep seep in the Santa Barbara Channel, California were studied with a network of three turbine seep-tents and repeated seabed mapping. The tents observed two gas ejection events that are interpreted as due to blockage of constrictions in fractures and subsequent blow-through. Seabed mapping suggests that very large transient emission events occur, are related to tar, and are temporally and spatially variable. Transient emissions have the potential to more efficiently transport methane to the atmosphere than steady-state emissions. We present an electrical model analog of subsurface seepage useful for seepage flux interpretation. The model predicts that variations in resistance at one vent shifts some of its flux to other connected vents, and that the shift is not zero-sum, i.e., a resistance change at one vent causes a flow change for the overall fracture system.     

Rare earth elements in seep carbonates as tracers of variable redox conditions at ancient hydrocarbon seeps

Marine hydrocarbon seeps are dynamic systems, which are typically reflected in complex lithologies of limestones forming at these sites. In order to test if seep limestones with their multiple generations of carbonate phases reflect variable redox conditions, the rare earth element (REE) patterns of limestones from five ancient hydrocarbon-seep localities, Hollard Mound (Middle Devonian), Iberg (Mississippian), Beauvoisin (Oxfordian), Canyon and Satsop River (Oligocene), and Marmorito (Miocene) have been investigated. The total REE contents vary widely (0.3–43.7 p.p.m.). Early microcrystalline phases tend to show higher contents than spatially associated later phases (microspar, sparite, and blocky cement). The shale-normalized REE patterns of the carbonates show both negative and positive Ce anomalies even for individual deposits, suggesting that the redox conditions varied significantly. It is apparent that in addition to anoxic conditions, oxic conditions were common in some ancient seep environments. Intermittent oxygenation is presumed to have resulted from abrupt changes in fluid flow.     

Molecular biogeochemistry of sulfate reduction, methanogenesis and the anaerobic oxidation of methane at Gulf of Mexico cold seeps

The anaerobic oxidation of methane in aquatic environments is a globally significant sink for a potent greenhouse gas. Significant gaps remain in our understanding of the anaerobic oxidation of methane because data describing the distribution and abundance of putative anaerobic methanotrophs in relation to rates and patterns of anaerobic oxidation of methane activity are rare. An integrated biogeochemical, molecular ecological and organic geochemical approach was used to elucidate interactions between the anaerobic oxidation of methane, methanogenesis, and sulfate reduction in sediments from two cold seep habitats (one brine site, the other a gas hydrate site) along the continental slope in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The results indicate decoupling of sulfate reduction from anaerobic oxidation of methane and the contemporaneous occurrence of methane production and consumption at both sites. Phylogenetic and organic geochemical evidence indicate that microbial groups previously suggested to be involved in anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to sulfate reduction were present and active. The distribution and isotopic composition of lipid biomarkers correlated with microbial distributions, although concrete assignment of microbial function based on biomarker profiles was complicated given the observed overlap of competing microbial processes. Contemporaneous activity of anaerobic oxidation of methane and bicarbonate-based methanogenesis, the distribution of methane-oxidizing microorganisms, and lipid biomarker data suggest that the same microorganisms may be involved in both processes.     

Laboratory methods for evaluating migrated high molecular weight hydrocarbons in marine sediments at naturally occurring oil seeps

A laboratory study has been conducted to determine the best methods for the detection of C₁₀–C₄₀ hydrocarbons at naturally occurring oil seeps in marine sediments. The results indicate that a commercially available method using n-C₆ to extract sediments and gas chromatography–flame ionization detection (GC–FID) to screen the resulting extract is effective at recognizing the presence of migrated hydrocarbons at concentrations from 50 to 5000 ppm. When non-biodegraded, the amount of oil charge is effectively tracked by the sum of n-alkanes in the gas chromatogram. However, once the charge oil becomes biodegraded, with the loss of n-alkanes and isoprenoids, the amount of oil is tracked by the quantification of the unresolved complex mixture (UCM). Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was also found to be very effective for the recognition of petroleum related hydrocarbons and results indicate that GC–MS would be a very effective tool for screening samples at concentrations below 50 ppm oil charge.     

Authigenic carbonates in methane seeps from the Norwegian sea: Mineralogy, geochemistry, and genesis

Authigenic carbonates in the caldera of an Arctic (72°N) submarine mud volcano with active CH₄bearing fluid discharge are formed at the bottom surface during anaerobic microbial methane oxidation. The microbial community consists of specific methane-producing bacteria, which act as methanetrophic ones in conditions of excess methane, and sulfate reducers developing on hydrogen, which is an intermediate product of microbial CH₄ oxidation. Isotopically light carbon (δ¹³C_av =−28.9%0) of carbon dioxide produced during CH₄ oxidation is the main carbonate carbon source. Heavy oxygen isotope ratio (δ¹⁸O_av = 5%0) in carbonates is inherited from seawater sulfate. A rapid sulfate reduction (up to 12 mg S dm⁻³ day⁻¹) results in total exhausting of sulfate ion in the upper sediment layer (10 cm). Because of this, carbonates can only be formed in surface sediments near the water-bottom interface. Authigenic carbonates occurring within sediments occur do notin situ. Salinity, as well as CO ₃ ²⁻ /Ca and Mg/Ca ratios, correspond to the field of nonmagnesian calcium carbonate precipitation. Calcite is the dominant carbonate mineral in the methane seep caldera, where it occurs in the paragenetic association with barite. The radiocarbon age of carbonates is about 10000 yr.     

Highly isotopically depleted isoprenoids: molecular markers for ancient methane venting

We propose that organic compounds found in a Miocene limestone from Marmorito (Northern Italy) are source markers for organic matter present in ancient methane vent systems (cold seeps). The limestone contains high concentrations of the tail-to-tail linked, acyclic C₂₀ isoprenoid 2,6,11,15-tetramethylhexadecane (crocetane), a C₂₅ homolog 2,6,10,15,19-pentamethylicosane (PME), and a distinctive glycerol ether lipid containing 3,7,11,15-tetramethylhexadecyl (phytanyl-) moieties. The chemical structures of these biomarkers indicate a common origin from archaea. Their extremely ¹³C-depleted isotope compositions (δ¹³C ≈ −108 to −115.6‰ PDB) suggest that the respective archaea have directly or indirectly introduced isotopically depleted, methane-derived carbon into their biomass. We postulate that a second major cluster of biomarkers showing heavier isotope values (δ¹³C ≈ −88‰) is derived from sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The observed biomarkers sustain the idea that methanogenic bacteria, in a syntrophic community with SRB, are responsible for the anaerobic oxidation of methane in marine sediments. Marmorito may thus represent a conceivable ancient scenario for methane consumption performed by a defined, two-membered bacterial consortium: (1) archaea that perform reversed methanogenesis by oxidizing methane and producing CO₂ and H₂; and (2) SRB that consume the resulting H₂. Furthermore, the respective organic molecules are, unlike other compounds, tightly bound to the crystalline carbonate phase. The Marmorito carbonates can thus be regarded as “cold seep microbialites” rather than mere “authigenic” carbonates.     

A large methane plume east of Bear Island (Barents Sea): implications for the marine methane cycle

A pockmark field extending over 35 km² at 74°54N, 27°3E, described by Solheim and Elverhøi (1993), was re-surveyed and found to be covered with more than 30 steep-sided craters between 300 and 700 m in diameter and up to 28 m deep. The craters are thought to have been formed by an explosive gas eruption. Anomalously high concentrations of methane in the shelf waters around the craters suggest that a strong methane source near this area is still active today. Methane enrichment more than 10 km away from the crater field indicates the large dimensions of a plume and the amount of gas released from sources below the seafloor of the Barents Sea shelf. From the characteristic vertical decrease of methane towards the sea surface, it is concluded that biota are extensively using this energy pool and reducing the methane concentration within the water column by about 98% between 300 m depth and the sea surface. Degassing to the atmosphere is minimal based on the shape of the methane concentration gradient. Nevertheless, the net flux of methane from this area of the Barents Sea is about 2.9 × 10⁴ g CH₄ km^–2 yr^–1 and thus in the upper range of the presently estimated global marine methane release. This flux is a minimum estimate and is likely to increase seasonally when rough weather leads to more effective vertical mixing during autumn and winter. The amount of methane consumed in the water column, however, is about 50 times greater and hence should significantly contribute to the marine carbon inventory.     

Fossil bacterial ecosystem at methane seeps : Origin of organic matter from Be’eri sulfur deposit, Israel

The Be’eri sulfur mine (Israel) is a unique deposit mainly composed of sandstone intercalated with biogenic mats and possessing organic matter exceptionally depleted in ¹³C. Molecular and isotopic studies of free and bound biomarkers were performed to unravel the source of the organic matter co-occurring with sulfur in this deposit and to propose a paleoenvironmental model of bacterial life in a type of extreme environment. They showed that the biomarkers are all extremely ¹³C-depleted and almost exclusively composed of hopanoids and biphytane derivatives of bacterial origin, notably methanotrophic bacteria and acidophilic archaea. δ¹³C values of individual components and of bulk organic carbon are in the −80% to −90% range and are among the lowest values ever measured for hopanoids. Organic matter in the sandstone and the mats differ mainly by the occurrence of 3-methylated hopanoids in the mats, which may reflect either different bacterial populations or different conditions of growth.These data demonstrate that the complete biomass of this deposit primarily derives from methanotrophic hopanoid-synthesizing bacteria consuming methane having seeped toward the surface, and that all other organisms—apparently only archaea and bacteria—must have been thriving on methane-derived carbon (methane, CO₂, biomass of methanotrophic bacteria). Unambiguous evidence for photosynthetic organisms in the environment of deposition could not be found. The Be’eri sulfur deposit is thus a fossil remain of an exclusively bacterial ecosystem fueled by methane as sole carbon source and having developed in an interstitial aqueous medium within the sandstone.Elemental sulfur from the deposit probably originates from the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide seeping along with methane, which could have been oxidized either abiotically or biologically by sulfur-oxidizing Beggiatoa-like bacteria and archaea. Further oxidation of elemental sulfur might explain the high acidity of the deposit.The oxidizing conditions now prevailing in the Be’eri deposit were revealed by the occurrence of degraded, oxidized, or thiophenic hopanoid structures. Some of them, unambiguously characterized by synthesis, were also obtained by heating hopenes with elemental sulfur, thus suggesting that the latter could play a role, as dehydrogenating and oxidizing agent, in the transformations undergone by organic matter in the Be’eri deposit.     

Impact of methane seeps on the local carbon‐isotope record: a case study from a Late Jurassic hemipelagic section

An Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) hemipelagic succession from Beauvoisin (SE France) contains a pronounced, short‐lived negative excursion in the bulk‐carbonate carbon‐isotope record, with an amplitude of 4‰. It was shown previously that the Beauvoisin paleoenvironment was impacted by hydrocarbon seepage. New isotopic data corroborate that methane was a significant constituent of these hydrocarbons. The negative excursion was caused by transient enhanced precipitation of ¹³C‐depleted carbonate, mediated by anaerobic oxidation of methane. Despite its local diagenetic origin, the Beauvoisin excursion is similar in shape and duration to globally recognized negative C‐isotope excursions that have been related to catastrophic, massive dissociation of methane hydrate. Shape and duration of negative excursions therefore cannot be used as an argument when determining their origin if they have not been shown to represent a global perturbation of the carbon cycle.     

Formation mechanism,experimental method,and property characterization of grain-displacing methane hydrates in marine sediment: A review

Grain-displacing hydrate deposits exist at many marine sites, which constitute an important part of methane hydrate resources worldwide. Attributed to the difficulties in acquiring field data and synthesizing experimental samples, the formation and property characterization of grain-displacing hydrate remains less understood and characterized than the pore-filling hydrate in current literature. This study reviews the formation mechanisms of grain-displacing hydrate from the perspective of geolog...     

Neptune: A marine micropaleontology database

Marine micropaleontology must in the future provide more precise chronologic and paleoenvironmental information, which in turn must be based on better, more consistent taxonomic and distributional data. Better tools for synthesis and standardization of this data are needed, as the ever expanding published literature is rapidly becoming unmanageable by purely manual compilation methods. The micropaleontology group at the ETH has developed a large relational database of marine microfossil data to partially meet this need. It currently contains biogeographic data on the distribution in Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) holes of nearly 8,000 species of Cenozoic planktonic foraminifera, radiolaria, diatoms and calcareous nannofossils. The database also includes full stratigraphic occurrence (range chart) data for these fossil groups from more than 100 selected Neogene holes. A particular feature of the database is that all sample information and species names in the original reports are linked to newly created, updatable, comprehensive age models and synonymy lists which reflect modern chronology and taxonomic usage. Searches of the database automatically make use of this information in producing reports. Species ' occurrences, including first and last occurrence information, can be further analyzed using external spreadsheet and statistics packages; plotted by mapping programs; or displayed by a new program which creates composite age-range charts.     

A critical look at iron paleoredox proxies: New insights from modern euxinic marine basins

Enrichments in reactive iron occur under euxinic marine conditions, that is, where dissolved sulfide is present in the water column. These enrichments result primarily from the export of remobilized iron from the oxic shelf, which is scavenged from the euxinic water column during syngenetic pyrite formation and deposited in the underlying sediments. Strongly elevated ratios of highly reactive iron to total iron (Fe_HR/Fe_T) and total iron to aluminum (Fe_T/Al) and high degrees of pyritization (DOP) are each products of this enrichment process. These paleoredox proxies are among the most faithful recorders of ancient euxinia.Contrary to previous arguments, iron enrichment is decoupled from biogenic sediment inputs, but it does appear to be a uniquely euxinic phenomenon. In other words, we can rule out a major contribution from preferential physical transport of Fe_HR-rich detrital sediment to the deep basin, which could also operate under oxic conditions. Furthermore, enrichment via the shuttling of iron remobilized from oxic shelves appears to be limited by inefficient transport and trapping processes in deep oxic basins. Elevated Fe_T/Al ratios in the euxinic sediments also cannot be a product of internal enhancement of the reactivity of the detrital iron pool without net Fe_HR addition. These conclusions are supported by observations in the modern Black Sea, Orca Basin, and Effingham Inlet.Fe_T/Al ratios are unambiguous recorders of paleoredox even in sediments that have experienced high degrees of metamorphic alteration. However, this study suggests that high siliciclastic accumulation rates can swamp the enrichment mechanism, resulting in only intermediate DOP values for euxinic sediments and Fe_T/Al ratios that mimic the oxic shelf. Such dilution effects are well expressed in Black Sea basinal turbidites and rapidly accumulating muds on euxinic basin margins. Under conditions of persistent euxinia, varying extents of Fe_HR enrichment can illuminate spatial and temporal gradients in siliciclastic sedimentation. The magnitude of enrichment is a function of the source (shelf) to sink (ocean basin) areal ratio, suggesting that iron proxies can also record ocean-scale paleoenvironmental properties through muted enrichments at times of very widespread euxinia. For the first time, manganese data are interpreted in light of the redox shuttle model. As for the iron data, the Black Sea, Orca Basin, and Effingham Inlet show enrichments in total manganese in the deep euxinic basin, suggesting export from the suboxic porewaters of the oxic shelf and scavenging and burial in the basin. The Black Sea data reveal iron and manganese enrichment across the broad, deep euxinic basin, suggesting efficient lateral transport and deep-water mixing tied to the physical properties of the water column.     

Stable calcium isotopic compositions of Hawaiian shield lavas: Evidence for recycling of ancient marine carbonates into the mantle

We report high-precision ⁴⁴Ca/⁴⁰Ca measurements (2σ_m < 0.06‰) of Hawaiian shield stage tholeiites. Our data reveal ∼0.3‰ variation in their ⁴⁴Ca/⁴⁰Ca, which comprises ∼20% of the ⁴⁴Ca/⁴⁰Ca variation observed in global carbonates. The ⁴⁴Ca/⁴⁰Ca variation is correlated with Sr/Nb and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, and this pattern is best explained by adding up to 4% ancient carbonate into the Hawaiian plume. Mass-balance calculations show that up to 40% of the Ca budget and 65% of the Sr budget in some Hawaiian (Makapuu-stage Koolau) lavas are derived from recycled carbonates. Our finding demonstrates, for the first time with the application of Ca isotopes, that ancient recycled carbonates are important components of mantle plumes which feed some of the largest terrestrial volcanoes. Thus, recycling of carbonates into the mantle is an essential part of the global Ca and C cycles.     

A cryptic sulfur cycle driven by iron in the methane zone of marine sediment (Aarhus Bay, Denmark)

Sulfate reduction and sulfur-iron geochemistry were studied in 5-6 m deep gravity cores of Holocene mud from Aarhus Bay (Denmark). A goal was to understand whether sulfate is generated by re-oxidation of sulfide throughout the sulfate and methane zones, which might explain the abundance of active sulfate reducers deep below the main sulfate zone. Sulfate penetrated down to 130 cm where methane started to build up and where the concentration of free sulfide peaked at 5.5 mM. Below this sulfate-methane transition, sulfide diffused downwards to a sulfidization front at 520 cm depth, below which dissolved iron, Fe²⁺, accumulated in the pore water. Sulfate reduction rates measured by ³⁵S-tracer incubations in the sulfate zone were high due to high concentrations of reactive organic matter. Within the sulfate-methane transition, sulfate reduction was distinctly stimulated by the anaerobic oxidation of methane. In the methane zone below, sulfate remained at positive “background” concentrations of <0.5 mM down to the sulfidization front. Sulfate reduction decreased steeply to rates which at 300-500 cm depth were 0.2-1 pmol SO₄²⁻ cm⁻³ d⁻¹, i.e., 4-5 orders of magnitude lower than rates measured near the sediment surface. The turn-over time of sulfate increased from 3 years at 12 cm depth to 100-1000 years down in the methane zone. Sulfate reduction in the methane zone accounted for only 0.1% of sulfate reduction in the entire sediment column and was apparently limited by the low pore water concentration of sulfate and the low availability of organic substrates. Amendment of the sediment with both sulfate and organic substrates immediately caused a 10- to 40-fold higher, “potential sulfate reduction” which showed that a physiologically intact community of sulfate reducing bacteria was present. The “background” sulfate concentration appears to be generated from the reaction of downwards diffusing sulfide with deeply buried Fe(III) species, such as poorly-reactive iron oxides or iron bound in reactive silicates. The oxidation of sulfide to sulfate in the sulfidic sediment may involve the formation of elemental sulfur and thiosulfate and their further disproportionation to sulfide and sulfate. The net reaction of sulfide and Fe(III) to form pyrite requires an additional oxidant, irrespective of the formation of sulfate. This could be CO₂ which is reduced with H₂ to methane. The methane subsequently diffuses upwards to become re-oxidized at the sulfate-methane transition and thereby removes excess reducing power and enables the formation of excess sulfate. We show here how the combination of these well-established sulfur-iron-carbon reactions may lead to the deep formation of sulfate and drive a cryptic sulfur cycle. The iron-rich post-glacial sediments underlying Holocene marine mud stimulate the strong sub-surface sulfide reoxidation observed in Aarhus Bay and are a result of the glacial to interglacial history of the Baltic Sea area. Yet, processes similar to the ones described here probably occur widespread in marine sediments, in particular along the ocean margins.     

A model to estimate the depositional brine depths of ancient halite rocks: Implications for ancient subaqueous evaporite depositional environments

A model is derived which allows a more general approach to the interpretation of bromine profiles in halite rocks than is possible with the models of Kuhn or Holser. Allowing for an open system, with influx and reflux, reduces the depth of brine necessary to generate a given salt deposit. Even very small and regular bromine gradients, which historically have been interpreted as the result of deposition from deep brine bodies, can be generated in an open system from brine no more than a few tens of metres deep. The bromine gradient produced from a given depth of brine is strongly dependent on the composition and amount of influx, but less so on the composition of brine already in the basin. A Zechstein profile is analysed which in a closed basin would require brine 2665 m deep. It can equally be modelled by influx of normal seawater which fully replenishes a basin no more than 140 m deep. A somewhat irregular profile from the Paradox Basin, instead of requiring a basin 100–400 m deep, can be modelled as being produced by deposition from brines only 10 m deep. Reflux in both cases can only be a few per cent of influx at a maximum.     

Environmental deterioration and human agency in ancient Macedonia: A case study

Stobi, a city inhabited from at least the 4th century B.C. to the late 6th century A.D., is at the confluence of the Vardar and Crna Rivers, now in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Archaeological and geologic evidence was used in the 1970s by R. L. Folk to develop a scenario of local environmental degradation, resulting from a postulated widespread climate change (4th–8th centuries A.D.), as a major cause of the decline and eventual abandonment of Stobi. The data for increasingly xeric conditions, catastrophic floods, and mudslides along the Crna River are reviewed and other paleoenvironmental evidence is considered. Subsequent archaeological investigations and a refined chronology reveal repeated episodes of rebuilding along the Crna between periods of flooding. After that portion of the city was abandoned in the mid‐5th century, Stobi achieved new prosperity as reflected in the construction of large‐scale ecclesiastical architecture and houses outside the south city wall. Human agency and periodic extreme weather are proposed as causes of environmental degradation at Stobi. The city's demise is attributed mainly to hostile invasions, plague, earthquake, and the collapse of imperial administrative and economic networks. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in marine sediments from the Skagerrak (Denmark): II. Reaction-transport modeling

A steady-state reaction-transport model is applied to sediments retrieved by gravity core from two stations (S10 and S13) in the Skagerrak to determine the main kinetic and thermodynamic controls on anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). The model considers an extended biomass-implicit reaction network for organic carbon degradation, which includes extracellular hydrolysis of macromolecular organic matter, fermentation, sulfate reduction, methanogenesis, AOM, acetogenesis and acetotrophy. Catabolic reaction rates are determined using a modified Monod rate expression that explicitly accounts for limitation by the in situ catabolic energy yields. The fraction of total sulfate reduction due to AOM in the sulfate-methane transition zone (SMTZ) at each site is calculated. The model provides an explanation for the methane tailing phenomenon which is observed here and in other marine sediments, whereby methane diffuses up from the SMTZ to the top of the core without being consumed. The tailing is due to bioenergetic limitation of AOM in the sulfate reduction zone, because the methane concentration is too low to engender favorable thermodynamic drive. AOM is also bioenergetically inhibited below the SMTZ at both sites because of high hydrogen concentrations (∼3-6 nM). The model results imply there is no straightforward relationship between pore water concentrations and the minimum catabolic energy needed to support life because of the highly coupled nature of the reaction network. Best model fits are obtained with a minimum energy for AOM of ∼11 kJ mol⁻¹, which is within the range reported in the literature for anaerobic processes.     

Chemical, biological and hydrological controls on the C content of cold seep carbonate crusts: numerical modeling and implications for convection at cold seeps

Understanding the hydrology of cold seep environments is crucial to perform accurate estimates of fluid and chemical fluxes at sedimentary wedges. Shallow convection processes may affect fluid flux estimates and could favor the destabilization of gas hydrate accumulations, increasing the sediment-ocean methane flux. Evidence for the occurrence of convection at cold seeps, however, is still limited. We use the concentration of ¹⁴C (D¹⁴C) in carbonate crusts formed at cold seeps of the eastern Mediterranean Sea as a tracer for convective recirculation of seawater-derived fluids. A numerical model is applied to investigate the controls on ¹⁴C incorporation in cold seep carbonates. Our simulations show that increased amounts of CH₄ in the expelled fluids result in elevated crust D¹⁴C, while high Ca²⁺ and HCO₃⁻ concentrations produce the opposite effect. Convection is the only transport process that can significantly increase crust D¹⁴C. Advection, bioirrigation, eddy diffusion and bioturbation instead, have little effect on, or produce a decrease of, crust D¹⁴C. In addition, the presence of old or modern carbon (MC) in host sediments prior to cementation and the ¹⁴C-decay associated to the time needed to form the crust contribute in defining the D¹⁴C of carbonate crusts. We then use the model to reproduce the ¹⁴C content of the eastern Mediterranean Sea crusts to constrain the chemical and hydrological conditions that led to their formation. Some crusts contain relatively low amounts of ¹⁴C (−945.0<D¹⁴C ‰<−930.2) which, assuming no ageing after crust formation, can be reproduced without considering convection. Other crusts from two sites (the Amsterdam and Napoli mud volcanoes), instead, have a very high ¹⁴C-content (−899.0<D¹⁴C ‰<−838.4) which can only be reproduced by the model if convection mixes deep fluids with seawater. Order-of-magnitude calculations using the Rayleigh criterion for convection suggest that the slow seepage (about 10 cm year⁻¹) of low salinity (20‰) fluids at the Amsterdam sites could trigger haline convection there. On the Napoli mud volcano, where high-density brines are expelled, density-driven convection cannot take place and other processes, possibly involving the rapid movement of free gas in the sediment, could be important.     

Mega-debris flow deposits from the Oligo-Miocene Pindos foreland basin, western mainland Greece: implications for transport mechanisms in ancient deep marine basins

The turbidite dominated, Oligo-Miocene Pindos foreland basin of western mainland Greece contains two thick (60–72 m), matrix supported conglomerates. The conglomerates are ungraded and contain three clast types: (1) polymict, rounded, extrabasinal clasts (long axes 3–50 cm); (2) tightly folded, intrabasinal clasts (long axes 1–10 m); and (3) tabular, largely undeformed, intrabasinal blocks (long axes 18–300 m). Clasts are isolated within a slit dominated matrix. These chaotic, matrix supported conglomerates are interpreted as mega-debris flow deposits. During transport, extrabasinal clasts were supported by a combination of matrix cohesion and clast dispersive pressure, folded intrabasinal clasts were supported by a combination of buoyancy (Archimedes principle) and clast dispersive pressure. The large tabular clasts were transported by gravity sliding/gliding within the flow on films at high pore fluid pressure. These different clast support mechanisms were active simultaneously within the Pindos mega-debris flow deposits. As a result, the deposits have no systemic vertical stratigraphy, in contrast to many described large scale mass flow deposits. The mega-debris flow deposits are significantly thicker than most described ancient siliciclastic debris flow deposits and provide an ancient analogue for the thick Recent siliciclastic debris flow deposits on continental margins.