Discovery and Description of Extinct Asphalt Volcanoes Along the Southern California Margin
Abstract
Asphalt volcanism is increasingly being recognized as an important process at cold seeps, linking ancient subsurface carbon reservoirs with more rapid biogeochemical processes at the surface. Here we describe two extinct asphalt volcanoes discovered off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA, using the DSV Alvin during the July 2007 SEEPS (Studies on the Ecology and Evolution of Petroleum Seeps) cruise. These structures are located approximately 10 kilometers offshore and 2 kilometers apart from each other, at a water depth of 150 to 200 meters. The volcanoes occur as asphalt mounds closely associated with sediment-laden depressions, suggesting extrusion of liquid petroleum coupled with localized subsidence or gas blowout. The volcanoes range from 10 to 30 meters in height off the sea floor and may extend below the present level of sediment cover. No active seepage was observed during approximately 10 hours of visual and video surveys from the DSV Alvin, but the volcanoes appear to serve as an oasis for benthic life when compared to the surrounding sediment. Four asphalt samples were collected throughout each site during these surveys and all show remarkable similarity in their structure and chemical composition. Organic carbon comprises 50 percent of the mass for each sample, with sulfur, hydrogen and nitrogen comprising another 10 percent in aggregate. Inclusions of fine-grained sediment and microfossils comprise much of the residual mass and are being used in an attempt to determine the timing of the eruptive events. Each sample was analyzed for the stable isotope composition of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur, and results are consistent with a petroleum source from the Miocene-age Monterey Formation. Analysis of biomarkers using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography yields a suite of hopanes and steranes also consistent with petroleum from the Monterey Formation, but with anomalously high concentrations of bisnorhopane. To our knowledge, this is the first report of extinct asphalt volcanoes along the Pacific margin of North America, and provides an important window into the activity of cold seeps by capturing important structures that are unlikely to survive into the geologic record.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007AGUFM.B53C..04V
- Keywords:
-
- 0428 Carbon cycling (4806);
- 0454 Isotopic composition and chemistry (1041;
- 4870)