Methane hydrate dissociation across the Oligocene–Miocene boundary

Kim, Bumsoo; Zhang, Yige

doi:10.1038/s41561-022-00895-5

Cited by 42 publications

(24 citation statements)

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“…Owing to their microbial origin, seep carbonates incorporate and harbor typical communities of methane-oxidizing archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria (Marlow et al, 2014). Eventually, the prokaryotes involved in AOM leave behind detectable organic traces in the lipid biomarker inventory of the rock that can be preserved for hundreds of millions of years in the sedimentary record (Peckmann and Thiel, 2004;Birgel and Peckmann, 2008) providing insights into AOM dynamics and microbial ecology (Peckmann et al, 2009;Kim and Zhang, 2022). Finally, the timing of carbonate formation at modern seeps (<500 ka BP) can be determined with a precision in the order of ±10 2 -10 3 y via Uranium/Thorium (U/Th) dating (Teichert et al, 2003;Feng et al, 2010b;Himmler et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeochemistry and timing of methane-derived carbonate formation at Leirdjupet fault complex, SW Barents sea

et al. 2022

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The origin of modern seafloor methane emissions in the Barents Sea is tightly connected to the glacio-tectonic and oceanographic transformations following the last ice age. Those regional events induced geological structure re-activation and destabilization of gas hydrate reservoirs over large areas of the European continental margins, sustaining widespread fluid plumbing systems. Despite the increasing number of new active seep discoveries, their accurate geochronology and paleo-dynamic is still poorly resolved, thus hindering precise identification of triggering factors and mechanisms controlling past and future seafloor emissions. Here, we report the distribution, petrographic (thin section, electron backscatter diffraction), isotopic (δ13C, δ18O) and lipid biomarker composition of methane-derived carbonates collected from Leirdjupet Fault Complex, SW Barents Sea, at 300 m depth during an ROV survey in 2021. Carbonates are located inside a 120 x 220 m elongated pockmark and form <10 m2 bodies protruding for about 2 m above the adjacent seafloor. Microstructural analyses of vein-filling cements showed the occurrence of three–five generations of isopachous aragonitic cement separated by dissolution surfaces indicative of intermittent oxidizing conditions. The integration of phase-specific isotopic analysis and U/Th dating showed δ13C values between −28.6‰ to −10.1‰ and δ18O between 4.6‰ and 5.3‰, enabling us to track carbonate mineral precipitation over the last ∼8 ka. Lipid biomarkers and their compound-specific δ13C analysis in the bulk carbonate revealed the presence of anaerobic methanotrophic archaea of the ANME-2 clade associated with sulfate-reducing bacteria of the Seep-SRB1 clade, as well as traces of petroleum. Our results indicate that methane and petroleum seepage in this area followed a similar evolution as in other southernmost Barents Sea sites controlled by the asynchronous deglaciation of the Barents Sea shelf, and that methane-derived carbonate precipitation is still an active process at many Arctic locations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeochemistry and timing of methane-derived carbonate formation at Leirdjupet fault complex, SW Barents sea

et al. 2022

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“…Methane leakage adds about 0.02 Gt of carbon to the ocean each year (Boetius and Wenzhöfer, 2013). Methane leakage is widely dispersed across the continental margin and has had a major impact on marine carbon cycling and climate over the last geological history (Dickens, 2003;Levin et al, 2016;Ruppel, 2017;Egger et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2019;Akam et al, 2020;Kim and Zhang, 2022). Most of the methane released is consumed by anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in the shallow sediments and/or anoxic water column, primarily using sulfate as an electron acceptor (Boetius et al, 2000;Reeburgh, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine sediment nitrogen isotopes and their implications for the nitrogen cycle in the sulfate-methane transition zone

Yang

Zhang²,

Sun³

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

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IntroductionRecent work has proposed that the nitrogen isotopes in marine sediments can be impacted by anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), since nitrogen uptake by anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) modifies the nitrogen isotope compositions of bulk sediment. Thus, unraveling the AOM-driven nitrogen cycle in the sulfate-methane transition zone (SMTZ) becomes significant. Additional study of the nitrogen cycle between sediment and interstitial water in SMTZ is needed.MethodsTo better understand the nitrogen cycle in the SMTZ, we analyzed NH4+ concentrations of interstitial water and nitrogen isotopes of sediment in the core GC10 from the southwestern Taiwan Basin in the South China Sea.ResultsThe defined SMTZ is located at 560–830 cmbsf, based on methane and sulfate concentrations, as well as TS/TOC ratios, δ13CTIC and δ34S values. In the SMTZ, the NH4+ concentration decreases, the δ15NTN shows a negative excursion, δ15Ndecarb displays a positive excursion.DiscussionsNH4+ concentration decrease is interpreted by sulfate-reducing ammonium oxidation (SRAO). The δ15NTN shows negative excursion, which is most likely interpreted to N2 (δ15N=0‰) released from SRAO that was fixed into marine sediment via ANME nitrogen fixation. The δ15Ndecarb shows a negative correlation with NH4+ concentrations, indicating that it was controlled by organic matter decomposition. In the SMTZ, the methane competes with organic matter for becoming the substrate of sulfate reduction bacteria, which possibly decreases the organic matter degradation rate and causes δ15Ndecarb relative positive excursion. Although δ15Ndecarb is controlled by organic matter degradation, δ15NTN still reveals a negative excursion in the SMTZ. This likely indicates that nitrogen uptake by ANME/AOM microbial consortiums mainly modifies the nitrogen isotope of soluble nitrogen in the SMTZ.ConclusionsThis study indicates unique geochemistry processes in SMTZ will modify nitrogen characteristics in sediment/interstitial water, and the latter can serve as a proxy for AOM.

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“…A recent anthropogenic‐related ocean warming in the Arctic is suggested to cause the dissociation of the gas hydrate deposits and the methane leakage on the seafloor (Ferré et al., 2012; Johnson et al., 2015; Ketzer et al., 2020), albeit the link between anthropogenic‐related warming and hydrate dissociation is debatable (Riedel et al., 2018; Wallmann et al., 2018). In Earth's history, the role of MH dissociation in relation to climate change (e.g., termination of glaciation) is still being debated (Kim & Zhang, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Properties of Pressure Core Samples Recovered From Nankai Trough Wells Before and After Methane Hydrate Dissociation

Muraoka

Yoneda

Jin

et al. 2023

Earth and Space Science

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The thermal properties of methane hydrate (MH)‐bearing sediments are necessary for developing gas production technologies (e.g., gas production rate prediction). The direct thermal property measurement of a general MH reservoir is difficult because it demands an advanced coring and measuring technology. Therefore, a good thermal property value estimation model for a system containing sediment grains, water, MH, and gas is necessary. In 2018, the pressure core samples were recovered from the AT‐CW1 and AT‐CW2 wells in Nankai Trough of Japan. Using a single‐sided transient plane source method, we measure herein the thermal property values of those core samples and estimate their thermal conductivity by improving existing models. The measured thermal conductivity (λ), specific heat (ρCp), and thermal diffusivity (α) of the MH‐bearing sediments before and after MH dissociation are obtained. The de Vries model agrees well with the measured thermal conductivity values before and after the MH dissociation. For the random distribution (geometric mean) model, the difference between the estimation values and the data after the MH dissociation increases as the gas saturation Sg′ increases. In the worst case, the distribution model shows an 87.6% error, while the de Vries model yields 5.2% of the same. We propose and use an estimation method of the thermal property values in an MH reservoir, which requires classical thermophysical models and well log data. The in‐situ thermal property values can be estimated when the log data are highly accurate.

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Methane hydrate dissociation across the Oligocene–Miocene boundary

Cited by 42 publications

References 90 publications

Biogeochemistry and timing of methane-derived carbonate formation at Leirdjupet fault complex, SW Barents sea

Biogeochemistry and timing of methane-derived carbonate formation at Leirdjupet fault complex, SW Barents sea

Marine sediment nitrogen isotopes and their implications for the nitrogen cycle in the sulfate-methane transition zone

Thermal Properties of Pressure Core Samples Recovered From Nankai Trough Wells Before and After Methane Hydrate Dissociation

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