Sedimentary geochemical proxies for methane seepage at Site C14 in the Qiongdongnan Basin in the northern South China Sea

SUN Tiantian; WU Daidai; YANG Fei; LIU Lihua; CHEN Xuegang; YE Ying

doi:10.1007/s13131-019-1460-6

Article Contents

Article Navigation > Acta Oceanologica Sinica > 2019 > 38(7): 84-95

SUN Tiantian, WU Daidai, YANG Fei, LIU Lihua, CHEN Xuegang, YE Ying. Sedimentary geochemical proxies for methane seepage at Site C14 in the Qiongdongnan Basin in the northern South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2019, 38(7): 84-95. doi: 10.1007/s13131-019-1460-6

Citation:

SUN Tiantian, WU Daidai, YANG Fei, LIU Lihua, CHEN Xuegang, YE Ying. Sedimentary geochemical proxies for methane seepage at Site C14 in the Qiongdongnan Basin in the northern South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2019, 38(7): 84-95. doi: 10.1007/s13131-019-1460-6

Citation:

SUN Tiantian, WU Daidai, YANG Fei, LIU Lihua, CHEN Xuegang, YE Ying. Sedimentary geochemical proxies for methane seepage at Site C14 in the Qiongdongnan Basin in the northern South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2019, 38(7): 84-95. doi: 10.1007/s13131-019-1460-6

PDF( 2086 KB)

Sedimentary geochemical proxies for methane seepage at Site C14 in the Qiongdongnan Basin in the northern South China Sea

doi: 10.1007/s13131-019-1460-6

1.
Ocean College of Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316021, China;Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
2.
Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China;Evaluation and Detection Technology Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Sciences and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266071, China
3.
Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
4.
Ocean College of Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316021, China

Received Date: 2018-05-08

Abstract

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that specific geochemical characteristics of sediments can be used to reconstruct past methane seepage events. In this work, the correlation between the Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios of sediment samples is analyzed and the sulfate concentration profile in Site C14 from cold-seep sediments in the Qiongdongnan Basin in northern South China Sea is obtained. The results confirmed that, sulfate at 0-247 cm below sea floor (Unit I) is mainly consumed by organic matter sulfate reduction (OSR), while sulfate at 247-655 cm (Unit Ⅱ) is consumed by both the OSR and the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). In addition, the bottom sediment layer is affected by weak methane seepage. The Mo and U enrichment factors also exhibit similar trends in their respective depth profiles. The responses of trace elements, including Co/Al, Ni/Al, Cr/Al and Zn/Al ratios to methane seepage allowed the study of depositional conditions and methane seepage events. Based on the results, it is speculated that the depositional conditions of Unit Ⅱ changed with depth from moderate conditions of sulfidic and oxic conditions to locally anoxic conditions, and finally to suboxic conditions due to methane fluid leakage. The stable isotope values of chromium-reducible sulfide produced by AOM and those of sulfide formed by OSR in the early diagenetic environment suffered serious depletion of ³⁴S. This was probably due to weak methane leakage, which caused the slower upward diffusion and the effect of early diagenesis on the samples. It is necessary to consider the effects of depositional environments and diagenesis on these geochemical parameters.
- Qiongdongnan Basin,
- trace elements,
- stable isotope values,
- anaerobic oxidation of methane,
- methane activity,

FullText(HTML)

References(57)

References

Addison J A, Finney B P, Jaeger J M, et al. 2013. Integrating satellite observations and modern climate measurements with the recent sedimentary record:an example from Southeast Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans, 118(7):3444-3461, doi: 10.1002/jgrc.20243

Algeo T J, Maynard J B. 2004. Trace-element behavior and redox facies in core shales of Upper Pennsylvanian Kansas-type cyclothems. Chemical Geology, 206(3-4):289-318, doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2003.12.009

Bayon G, Pierre C, Etoubleau J, et al. 2007. Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios in Niger Delta sediments:implications for authigenic carbonate genesis in cold seep environments. Marine Geology, 241(1-4):93-109, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2007.03.007

Boetius A, Ravenschlag K, Schubert C J, et al. 2000. A marine microbial consortium apparently mediating anaerobic oxidation of methane. Nature, 407(6804):623-626, doi: 10.1038/35036572

Boetius A, Suess E. 2004. Hydrate Ridge:a natural laboratory for the study of microbial life fueled by methane from near-surface gas hydrates. Chemical Geology, 205(3-4):291-310, doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2003.12.034

Chaillou G, Schäfer J, Blanc G, et al. 2008. Mobility of Mo, U, As, and Sb within modern turbidites. Marine Geology, 254(3-4):171-179, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2008.06.002

Chang Huajin, Chu Xuelei, Feng Lianjun, et al. 2009. Redox sensitive trace elements as paleoenvironments proxies. Geological Review (in Chinese), 55(1):91-99

Chen Fang, Hu Yu, Feng Dong, et al. 2016. Evidence of intense methane seepages from molybdenum enrichments in gas hydrate-bearing sediments of the northern South China Sea. Chemical Geology, 443:173-181, doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.09.029

Chen Duofu, Li Xuxuan, Xia Bin. 2004. Distribution of gas hydrate stable zones and resource prediction in the Qiongdongnan Basin of the south China sea. Chinese Journal of Geophysics (in Chinese), 47(3):483-489

Chen Yifeng, Ussler Ⅲ W, Haflidason H, et al. 2010. Sources of methane inferred from pore-water δ¹³C of dissolved inorganic carbon in Pockmark G11, offshore Mid-Norway. Chemical Geology, 275(3-4):127-138, doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2010.04.013

Chen Hui, Xie Xinong, Guo Jingliang, et al. 2015. Provenance of central canyon in Qiongdongnan Basin as evidenced by detrital zircon U-Pb study of Upper Miocene sandstones. Science China Earth Sciences, 58(8):1337-1349, doi: 10.1007/s11430-014-5038-6

Dymond J, Suess E, Lyle M. 1992. Barium in deep-sea sediment:a geochemical proxy for paleoproductivity. Paleoceanography, 7(2):163-181, doi: 10.1029/92PA00181

Feng Dong, Chen Duofu. 2015. Authigenic carbonates from an active cold seep of the northern South China Sea:new insights into fluid sources and past seepage activity. Deep Sea Research Part Ⅱ:Topical Studies in Oceanography, 122:74-83, doi: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.02.003

Fu Shuqing, Zhu Zhaoyu, Ouyang Tingping, et al. 2011. Geochemical changes of the terrigenous sediments in the southern South China Sea and their paleoenvironmental implications during the last 31ky. Journal of Oceanography, 67(3):337-346, doi: 10.1007/s10872-011-0043-2

Gong Zaisheng, Li Sitian. 1997. Continental Margin Basin Analysis and Hydrocarbon Accumulation of the Northern South China Sea (in Chinese). Beijing:Science Press

Han Xiqiu, Suess E, Liebetrau V, et al. 2014. Past methane release events and environmental conditions at the upper continental slope of the South China Sea:constraints by seep carbonates. International Journal of Earth Sciences, 103(7):1873-1887, doi: 10.1007/s00531-014-1018-5

Hu Yu, Feng Dong, Peckmann J, et al. 2014. New insights into cerium anomalies and mechanisms of trace metal enrichment in authigenic carbonate from hydrocarbon seeps. Chemical Geology, 381:55-66, doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2014.05.014

Leri A C, Hakala J A, Marcus M A, et al. 2010. Natural organobromine in marine sediments:New evidence of biogeochemical Br cycling. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 24(4):GB4017

Li Niu. 2015. Geochemical characterization of cored sediments on the northern continental slope of the South China Sea and responses to cold seep activities (in Chinese)[dissertation]. Beijing:Chinese Academy of Sciences

Li Qianyu, Wang Pinxian, Zhao Quanhong, et al. 2006. A 33Ma lithostratigraphic record of tectonic and paleoceanographic evolution of the South China Sea. Marine Geology, 230(3-4):217-235, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2006.05.006

Lin Qi. 2016. Authigenic minerals in the sediments from gas hydrate-bearing regions in the northern South China Sea and its implication for sulfate-methane transition zone (in Chinese)[dissertation]. Wuhan:China University of Geosciences

Lin Qi, Wang Jiasheng, Fu Shaoying, et al. 2015. Elemental sulfur in northern South China Sea sediments and its significance. Science China Earth Sciences, 58(12):2271-2278, doi: 10.1007/s11430-015-5182-7

Liu Zhifei. 2010. Clay mineral assemblages in sediments of the South China Sea:East Asian monsoon evolution proxies?. Acta Sedimentologica Sinica (in Chinese), 28(5):1012-1019

Lu Hongfeng, Liu Jian, Wu Lushan, et al. 2015. Sulfur isotopes of authigenic pyrites in the sediments of gas-hydrate drilling sites, Shenhu area, South China Sea. Earth Science Frontiers (in Chinese), 22(2):200-206

Luo Min, Chen Linying, Tong Hongpeng, et al. 2014. Gas hydrate occurrence inferred from dissolved Cl^- concentrations and δ¹⁸O values of pore water and dissolved sulfate in the shallow sediments of the pockmark field in southwestern xisha uplift, northern South China Sea. Energies, 7(6):3886-3899, doi: 10.3390/en7063886

Luo Min, Chen Linying, Wang Shuhong, et al. 2013. Pockmark activity inferred from pore water geochemistry in shallow sediments of the pockmark field in southwestern xisha uplift, northwestern South China Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 48:247-259, doi: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.08.018

Luo Min, Dale A W, Wallmann K, et al. 2015. Estimating the time of pockmark formation in the sw xisha uplift (South China Sea) using reaction-transport modeling. Marine Geology, 364:21-31, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.03.006

Lyons T W, Anbar A D, Severmann S, et al. 2009. Tracking euxinia in the ancient ocean:a multiproxy perspective and proterozoic case study. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 37(1):507-534, doi: 10.1146/annurev.earth.36.031207.124233

Masuzawa T, Handa N, Kitagawa H, et al. 1992. Sulfate reduction using methane in sediments beneath a bathyal "cold seep" giant clam community off Hatsushima Island, Sagami Bay, Japan. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 110(1-4):39-50, doi: 10.1016/0012-821X(92)90037-V

Masuzawa T. 2002. Sensors for Process Monitoring:Electrical Discharge Machining. New Jersey:Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH

Mazzini, Marino, Contini S, et al. 2006. Haria-2. A computer supported approach to emergency planning, analysis and response. Risk, Decision and Policy, 7(2):131-143

Nöthen K, Kasten S. 2011. Reconstructing changes in seep activity by means of pore water and solid phase Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios in pockmark sediments of the Northern Congo Fan. Marine Geology, 287(1-4):1-13, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2011.06.008

Pan Mengdi. 2017. Evidence from foraminifera and geochemical characteristics of sediments for methane seeps in the northern slope of the South China Sea (in Chinese)[dissertation]. China University of Geosciences

Ponomareva V, Portnyagin M, Derkachev A, et al. 2013. Early holocene m~6 explosive eruption from plosky volcanic massif (kamchatka) and its tephra as a link between terrestrial and marine paleoenvironmental records. International Journal of Earth Sciences, 102(6), 1673–1699

Price F T, Shieh Y N. 1979. Fractionation of sulfur isotopes during laboratory synthesis of pyrite at low temperatures. Chemical Geology, 27(3):245-253, doi: 10.1016/0009-2541(79)90042-1

Scott C, Planavsky N J, Dupont C L, et al. 2013. Bioavailability of zinc in marine systems through time. Nature Geoscience, 6(2):125-128, doi: 10.1038/ngeo1679

Solomon E A, Kastner M, MacDonald I R, et al. 2009. Considerable methane fluxes to the atmosphere from hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. Nature Geoscience, 2(8):561-565, doi: 10.1038/ngeo574

Su Xin, Chen Fang, Lu Hongfeng, et al. 2008. Micro-textures of methane seep carbonates from the northern South China Sea in correlation with fluid flow. Geoscience (in Chinese), 22(3):376-381

Sun Tiantian, Wu Daidai, Pan Mengdi, et al. 2018. Geochemical characteristics of surface sediments in the southern Qiongdongnan Basin of the Northern South China Sea and its implication for sedimentary environment. Journal of Tropical Oceanography (in Chinese), 37(4):70-80

Stuiver Minze, Reimer Paula J. 1993. Extended ¹⁴C Data Base and Revised CALIB 3.0 ¹⁴C Age Calibration Program. Radiocarbon, 35(01):215-230

Taylor S R, McClennan S M. 1985. The Continental Crust:Its Composition and Evolution:An Examination of the Geochemical Record Preserved in Sedimentary Rocks. Oxford:Blackwell Scientific Pub, 1-312

Tong Hongpeng, Feng Dong, Cheng Hai, et al. 2013. Authigenic carbonates from seeps on the northern continental slope of the South China Sea:new insights into fluid sources and geochronology. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 43:260-271, doi: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.01.011

Tribovillard N, Algeo T J, Lyons T, et al. 2006. Trace metals as paleoredox and paleoproductivity proxies:an update. Chemical Geology, 232(1-2):12-32, doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2006.02.012

Wang Xiujuan, Wu Shiguo, Liu Xuewei. 2006. Factors affecting the estimation of gas hydrate and free gas saturation. Chinese Journal of Geophysics (in Chinese), (2):504-511

Wang T K, Chen Tingren, Deng Jiaming, et al. 2015. Velocity structures imaged from long-offset reflection data and four-component OBS data at Jiulong Methane Reef in the northern South China Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 68:206-218, doi: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.08.024

Wang Pinxian, Sun Xiangjun. 1994. Last Glacial Maximum in China:comparison between land and sea. Catena, 23(3-4):341-353, doi: 10.1016/0341-8162(94)90077-9

Wang Dawei, Wu Shiguo, Qin Zhiliang, et al. 2013. Seismic characteristics of the Huaguang mass transport deposits in the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea:Implications for regional tectonic activity. Marine Geology, 346:165-182, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2013.09.003

Wu Shiguo, Sun Qiliang, Wu Tuoyu, et al. 2009. Polygonal fault and oil-gas accumulation in deep-water area of Qiongdongnan Basin. Acta Petrolei Sinica (in Chinese), 30(1):22-26, 32

Xie Lei, Wang Jiasheng, Wu Nengyou, et al. 2013. Characteristics of authigenic pyrites in shallow core sediments in the Shenhu area of the northern South China Sea:Implications for a possible mud volcano environment. Science China Earth Sciences, 56(4):541-548

Wu Lushan, Yang Shengxiong, Liang Jinqiang, et al. 2010. Geochemical characteristics of sediments at site HQ-48PC in Qiongdongnan area, the North of the South China Sea, and their implication for gas hydrates. Geoscience (in Chinese), 24(3):534-544

Yang Taotao, Wu Jingwu, Wang Bin, et al. 2012. Structural pattern and sediment filling in huaguang sag of Southern Qiongdongnan Basin. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology (in Chinese), 32(5):13-18

Yang Kehong, Chu Fengyou, Zhu Jihao, et al. 2014. Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios of authigenic carbonate minerals and calcareous biogenic shells in the cold-seep acrbonates, north of the South China Sea and their environmental implication. Haiyang Xuebao (in Chinese), 36(8):39–48

Yao Bochu. 1998. Preliminary exploration of gas hydrate in the northern margin of the South China Sea. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology (in Chinese), 18(4):11-18

Yuan Yusong, Zheng Herong, Tu Wei. 2008. Methods of eroded strata thickness restoration in sedimentary basins. Petroleum Geology and Experiment (in Chinese), 30(6):636-642

Zhang Mingliang, Guo Wei, Shen Jun, et al. 2017. New progress on geochemical indicators of ancient oceanic redox condition. Geological Science and Technology Information, 36(4):95-106

Zhang Jie, Lei Huaiyan, Ou Wenjia, et al. 2014. Research of the sulfate-methane transition zone (SMTZ) in sediments of 973-4 column in continental slope of northern South China Sea. Natural Gas Geoscience (in Chinese), 25(11):1811-1820

Zhang Gongcheng, Mi Lijun, Wu Jingfu, et al. 2010. Rises and their plunges:favorable exploration directions for major fields in the deepwater area, Qiongdongnan Basin. China Offshore Oil and Gas (in Chinese), 22(6):360-368

Relative Articles

Supplements(0)

Cited By

Proportional views