Four mud volcanoes of several kilometres diameter named Amon, Osiris, Isis, and North Alex and located above gas chimneys on the Central Nile Deep Sea Fan, were investigated for the first time with the submersible Nautile. One of the objectives was to characterize the seafloor morphology and the seepage activity across the mud volcanoes. The seepage activity was dominated by emissions of methane and heavier hydrocarbons associated with a major thermal contribution. The most active parts of the mud volcanoes were highly gas-saturated (methane concentrations in the water and in the sediments, respectively, of several hundreds of nmol/L and several mmol/L of wet sediment) and associated with significantly high thermal gradients (at 10 m below the seafloor, the recorded temperatures reached more than 40 °C). Patches of highly reduced blackish sediments, mats of sulphide-oxidizing bacteria, and precipitates of authigenic carbonate were detected, indicative of anaerobic methane consumption. The chemosynthetic fauna was, however, not very abundant, inhibited most likely by the high and vigorous fluxes, and was associated mainly with carbonate-crustcovered seafloor encountered on the southwestern flank of Amon. Mud expulsions are not very common at present and were found limited to the most active emission centres of two mud volcanoes, where slow extrusion of mud occurs. Each of the mud volcanoes is fed principally by a main narrow channel located below the most elevated areas, most commonly in the centres of the structures. The distribution, shape, and seafloor morphology of the mud volcanoes and associated seeps over the Central Nile Deep Sea Fan are clearly tectonically controlled.

We report on a multidisciplinary study of cold seeps explored in the Central Nile deep-sea fan of the Egyptian margin. Our approach combines in situ seafloor observation, geophysics, sedimentological data, measurement of bottom-water methane anomalies, pore-water and sediment geochemistry, and 230 Th/U dating of authigenic carbonates. Two areas were investigated, which correspond to different sedimentary provinces. The lower slope, at ~ 2100 m water depth, indicates deformation of sediments by gravitational processes, exhibiting slope-parallel elongated ridges and seafloor depressions. In contrast, the middle slope, at not, vert, ~ 1650 m water depth, exhibits a series of debris-flow deposits not remobilized by post-depositional gravity processes.Significant differences exist between fluid-escape structures from the two studied areas. At the lower slope, methane anomalies were detected in bottom-waters above the depressions, whereas the adjacent ridges show a frequent coverage of fractured carbonate pavements associated with chemosynthetic vent communities. Carbonate U/Th age dates (~ 8 kyr BP), pore-water sulphate and solid phase sediment data suggest that seepage activity at those carbonate ridges has decreased over the recent past. In contrast, large (~ 1 km2) carbonate-paved areas were discovered in the middle slope, with U/Th isotope evidence for ongoing carbonate precipitation during the Late Holocene (since ~ 5 kyr BP at least).Our results suggest that fluid venting is closely related to sediment deformation in the Central Nile margin. It is proposed that slope instability leads to focused fluid flow in the lower slope and exposure of 'fossil' carbonate ridges, whereas pervasive diffuse flow prevails at the unfailed middle slope.

This paper reports the first "in situ" seafloor observations of fluid escape structures in a fault-controlled caldera-type depression of about 8 km diameter, named the Menes caldera, in the Eastern Mediterranean sea off Egypt (western province of the Nile Deep Sea Fan). A detailed analysis of seven Nautile dives, performed during the Nautinil cruise in 2003, focused on determining the nature, origin, importance, mechanisms and environmental impacts of the fluid escape processes from the geological observations. Seafloor maps, constructed from direct visual observations and video records made from the submersible, and sampling results, for three mud volcanoes of the caldera, Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos show differences in activity but many common characteristics. The three volcanoes show a crater-like depression. The study reveals a strong contrast between Mykerinos, where no seepage activity was found, and the craters of Cheops and Chephren, where an intense activity of brine seepage was discovered. On Cheops, a dome of dark grey mud raises slightly above the brine surface in the central part of the brine lake, and shows numerous circular vents of 1-2 m diameter that become gradually colonized by microbial mats. Chephren hosts a deep (> 200 m) and warm (45 °C) brine lake. Alternations of areas void of or covered with microbial mats at the surface of the Chephren brine lake indicate large surface disturbances that may result from the occurrence of several active vents at the bottom of the lake. A special feature at Chephren is a brine overflow at the western edge of the crater, also indicative of the very high activity of brine seepage. The Nautinil observations indicate that the Menes caldera in the Eastern Mediterranean is a highly active site of brine seepage. Growth faults rooted in pre-Messinian sediment layers provide pathways for warm fluids to escape pressurized source levels below the Messinian salt.