Massive barite deposits and carbonate mineralization in the Derugin Basin, Sea of Okhotsk: precipitation processes at cold seep sites

Laser Raman spectroscopy as a technique for identification of seafloor hydrothermal and cold seep minerals

“…Naehr, et al (2000) hypothesized that the site was the result of a sediment slump exposing barium-rich pore waters to sulfate-rich seawater. This site is similar to other cold-seep barite sites observed along continental margins (Torres et al, 2003) (e.g., at the San Clemente Fault (Lonsdale, 1979) and in the Sea of Okhotsk (Greinert et al, 2002)). …”

Geochemical characteristics of the barite deposits at cold seeps from the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope

“…Aloisi et al, 2004;Aquilina et al, 1997;Castellini et al, 2006;Greinert et al, 2002;Hanor and Mercer, 2010;McQuay et al, 2008;Torres et al, 1996aTorres et al, , b, 2002. It is known that barite deposits form by the interaction of barium-rich and sulfate-free seeping fluids with dissolved sulfate at relatively low-to-moderate flux fluid expulsion regimes (Aloisi et al, 2004;Roberts and Carney, 1997):…”

“…Since then, seep-related barites have been found in other parts of the world's oceans, for example, the Alaska margin (Suess et al, 1998), the Gulf of Mexico (Castellini et al, 2006;Fu and Aharon, 1997;Fu et al, 1994;Joye et al, 2005;Roberts and Carney, 1997), the Peru Margin (Aquilina et al, 1997;Torres et al, 1996a), the Sea of Japan (Torres et al, 1996b), the Monterey Canyon (Naehr et al, 2000), the Sea of Okhotsk (Greinert et al, 2002), Blake Ridge (Snyder et al, 2007), and the Southern California Continental Borderland (Hein et al, 2007). Such barite deposits can be quite large.…”

“…Such barite deposits can be quite large. For instance, seafloor observations illustrate that barite build-ups up to 10 m high were scattered over the seafloor along a 3.5 km long track from the Sea of Okhotsk with several single barite blocks larger than 40 cm in diameter (Greinert et al, 2002). Barite chimneys in the San Clemente Fault Zone reach up to 10 m in height (Lonsdale, 1979), and sites of barite deposition were observed over 3 km along the fault (Torres et al, 2002).…”

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

“…High-acoustic backscatter is caused by the enhanced acoustic impedance or roughness contrast between certain regions of the seafloor and their surroundings (Blondel and Murton, 1997). At methane seeps, this contrast is primarily caused by the presence of methane-derived authigenic carbonates (MDACs), chemosynthetic "cold seep" communities (clams, tube worms), bubbles or gas hydrates in the sediment (Hovland et al, 1985;Ritger et al, 1987;Paull et al, 1992;von Rad et al, 1996;Greinert et al, 2001;Peckmann et al, 2001;Fonseca et al, 2002;Greinert et al, 2002b;Orange et al, 2002;Johnson et al, 2003;Niemann et al, 2005;Holland et al, 2006;Ivanov et al, 2007). Multibeam and side scan sonar surveys also detect changes in the seafloor morphology, which can mark the location of gas seeps (e.g.…”