The role of porosity in H2/He production ratios in fracture fluids from the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa

Karolytė, Rūta; Warr, Oliver; Heerden, Esta van; Flude, Stephanie; Lange, F. de; Webb, S. J.; Ballentine, C. J.; Lollar, Barbara Sherwood

doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.120788

Cited by 18 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…The aforementioned authors emphasize the similarities observed between the gases analyzed in the Canadian Shield and those documented in the Fennoscandian Shield in Finland or the Kaapvall Craton in South Africa, and explain the locally low Frontiers in Geochemistry frontiersin.org abundance of hydrogen by in situ microbial consumption processes (see also : Karolytė et al, 2022). Sherwood Lollar et al (2007) propose a model of mixing between hydrogen-rich, micro-organism-poor saline waters and low-salinity meteoric waters with more diverse microbial content.…”

Section: Dissolved Gas In Mine Groundwatermentioning

confidence: 83%

Potential for natural hydrogen in Quebec (Canada): a first review

Séjourné,

Comeau,

Moreira dos Santos

et al. 2024

Front. Geochem.

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The energy transition calls for natural hydrogen exploration, with most occurrences discovered either inadvertently or, more recently, at the location of potentially diffusive circles observed from a change of vegetation cover at the surface. However, some notable hydrogen occurrences are not directly associated with the presence of diffusive circles like the Bourakebougou field in Mali. Thus, the objective of this work was to highlight geological areas that have some potential to find natural hydrogen in Quebec, a Canadian province where no diffusive circles have yet been documented but which is rich in potential source rocks and where no exploration for natural hydrogen has been undertaken so far. A review of the different geological regions of Quebec was undertaken to highlight the relevant characteristics and geographical distribution of geological assemblages that may produce or have produced natural hydrogen, in particular, iron-rich rocks but also uranium-rich rocks, supramature shales and zones where significant structural discontinuities are documented or suspected, which may act as conduits for the migration of fluids of mantle origin. In addition to regional and local geological data, an inventory of available geochemical data is also carried out to identify potential tracers or proxies to facilitate subsequent exploration efforts. A rating was then proposed based on the quality of the potential source rocks, which also considers the presence of reservoir rocks and the proximity to end-users. This analysis allowed rating areas of interest for which fieldwork can be considered, thus minimizing the exploratory risks and investments required to develop this resource. The size of the study area (over 1.5 million km2), the diversity of its geological environments (from metamorphic cratons to sedimentary basins) and their wide age range (from Archean to Paleozoic) make Quebec a promising territory for natural hydrogen exploration and to test the systematic rating method proposed here.

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Section: Dissolved Gas In Mine Groundwatermentioning

confidence: 83%

Potential for natural hydrogen in Quebec (Canada): a first review

Séjourné,

Comeau,

Moreira dos Santos

et al. 2024

Front. Geochem.

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“…1) supports the hypothesis of faults acting as migration conduits (i.e., linking the basement source rock to the reservoir) and transporting 4 He and N via advective fluid flow. The observed 4 He/N 2 ratios likely reflect production ratios in the basement prior to mobilization (Karolyt ė et al, 2022).…”

Section: Gas-water Systemmentioning

confidence: 85%

High helium reservoirs in the Four Corners area of the Colorado Plateau, USA

Halford¹,

Karolytė²,

Barry³

et al. 2022

Chemical Geology

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“…To date, significant research has focused on evaluating the role of radiolytic-driven cycling of hydrogen and sulfur in supporting chemosynthetic ecosystems (e.g., Lin et al, 2005b;Lin et al, 2006;Chivian et al, 2008;D'Hondt et al, 2009;Sherwood Lollar et al, 2014;Dzaugis et al, 2016;Li et al, 2016Li et al, , 2022Telling et al, 2017;Warr et al, 2019;Bomberg et al, 2021;Sauvage et al, 2021;Nisson et al, 2023). Most recently, research has expanded this aspect to consider cycling of other associated critical bio-elements, such as nitrogen, and simple organic molecules (e.g., Silver et al, 2012;Adam et al, 2021;Li et al, 2021;Vandenborre et al, 2021;Karolytė et al, 2022), and to evaluate alternative habitability models beyond Earth on other worlds such as Mars, Enceladus, and Europa (Onstott et al, 2006;Bouquet et al, 2017;Dzaugis et al, 2018;Tarnas et al, 2018;. However, underpinning this entire research field is the fundamental requirement of accurately being able to model representative radiolytic production of elements within the system(s).…”

Section: Applications and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, underpinning this entire research field is the fundamental requirement of accurately being able to model representative radiolytic production of elements within the system(s). This has resulted in a recent shift from deterministic towards a probabilistic approach, demonstrated both here via Monte Carlo approach and by incorporating additional statistical-based approaches (e.g., Bayesian modelling - Gallagher et al, 2009;Karolytė et al, 2022) to generate the next-generation of models to incorporate variability within natural systems. These next-generation models are essential in order to provide more quantifiable and probabilistic approach to these estimates, less subject to inherent variability in the input parameters and hence more representative regional/global estimates necessary to understand the significance of these processes for Earth, Mars, or the other moons and planets in the Solar System.…”

Section: Applications and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the benefits of this approach, the earth sciences and geochemistry community has been incorporating this technique in a variety of applications (e.g., Sambridge and Mosegaard, 2002;Gallagher et al, 2009;Warr et al, 2015;Liu and Liang, 2017;Sakan et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2020;Karolytė et al, 2022). One powerful application which remains underexplored is the in situ production of key elements and compounds of biogeochemical and/ or economic interest generated through the natural decay of U, Th, and K within a wide range of crustal settings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The application of Monte Carlo modelling to quantify in situ hydrogen and associated element production in the deep subsurface

2023

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The subsurface production, accumulation, and cycling of hydrogen (H2), and cogenetic elements such as sulfate (SO42-) and the noble gases (e.g., 4He, 40Ar) remains a critical area of research in the 21st century. Understanding how these elements generate, migrate, and accumulate is essential in terms of developing hydrogen as an alternative low-carbon energy source and as a basis for helium exploration which is urgently needed to meet global demand of this gas used in medical, industrial, and research fields. Beyond this, understanding the subsurface cycles of these compounds is key for investigating chemosynthetically-driven habitability models with relevance to the subsurface biosphere and the search for life beyond Earth. The challenge is that to evaluate each of these critical element cycles requires quantification and accurate estimates of production rates. The natural variability and intersectional nature of the critical parameters controlling production for different settings (local estimates), and for the planet as a whole (global estimates) are complex. To address this, we propose for the first time a Monte Carlo based approach which is capable of simultaneously incorporating both random and normally distributed ranges for all input parameters. This approach is capable of combining these through deterministic calculations to determine both the most probable production rates for these elements for any given system as well as defining upper and lowermost production rates as a function of probability and the most critical variables. This approach, which is applied to the Kidd Creek Observatory to demonstrate its efficacy, represents the next-generation of models which are needed to effectively incorporate the variability inherent to natural systems and to accurately model H2, 4He, 40Ar, SO42- production on Earth and beyond.

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The role of porosity in H2/He production ratios in fracture fluids from the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa

Cited by 18 publications

References 78 publications

Potential for natural hydrogen in Quebec (Canada): a first review

Potential for natural hydrogen in Quebec (Canada): a first review

High helium reservoirs in the Four Corners area of the Colorado Plateau, USA

The application of Monte Carlo modelling to quantify in situ hydrogen and associated element production in the deep subsurface

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