Methane Seeps in the Red Sea
Abstract
The Red Sea presents several forms of fluid expulsion and associated features. Ancient Egyptians first documented natural oil seeps on the margins of the Gulf of Suez. More recent accounts identify crude oil discharge at surficial sites along the coasts and islands of Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, and Sudan. Bathymetric surveys confirm the presence of pockmarks in the central Red Sea, and some wells have returned hydrocarbons.
The opening of the Red Sea generates dominantly extensional strain of the stratigraphic section, and the coupled effects of rifting and salt tectonics create pathways for subsurface flow. Bubble curtains occur along the suture zones of salt flows and channels indicative of extensional faulting. Direct visual observations confirm vast microbial mats along the seafloor and authigenic carbonates near seeps. Carbonate features include expansive seafloor crusts, clusters of chimneys centimeters in height and isolated chimneys extending meters above the seafloor. Ongoing studies at KAUST involve extensive field work (acoustic characterization and imaging, ROV deployment, water column assessment, in-situ testing, core recovery) and laboratory studies (starting with CT-scanning, followed by comprehensive bio-chemo-mechanical characterization).- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMOS43B1700S
- Keywords:
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- 3002 Continental shelf and slope processes;
- MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS;
- 3004 Gas and hydrate systems;
- MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS;
- 3045 Seafloor morphology;
- geology;
- and geophysics;
- MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS;
- 3050 Ocean observatories and experiments;
- MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS