Seismic Signature Analysis for Clarification of Mud Volcanoes from the New Mud Diapirs Discovered at the NE-SW Moroccan Atlantic Margin

Our aim is to clarify mud volcanoes from the new mud diapirs resulting from the seismic attributes analysis applied to the low resolution Burmah oil “1973-1974” seismic data. The latter was carried out on the Larache and Tanger-Larache offshores from the NE-SW Atlantic margin. The high resolution seismic data was essential for this evaluation. In this case, we applied seismic signature analysis to four seismic profiles from the map of the seismic data set, which includes all new mud diapirs. This helped us to classify different types of mud diapirs within the seismic profiles. And as a result, six deep mud diapirs from the Prerifaine Nappe of Morocco, a shallow mud diapir, and four seafloor-piercing mud diapirs have been observed. Furthermore, the seafloor-piercing mud diapirs show a mushroom-shaped and conical-shaped cone. As they break through the seafloor, these kinds of cones characterize mud volcanoes. In this case, we may conclude that the resultant seafloor-piercing mud diapirs are likely to be mud volcanoes. However, more geological sampling and seafloor observation are still required.

Geophysical evidence of a large occurrence of mud volcanoes associated with gas plumbing system in the Ross Sea(Antarctica)

Seafloor and buried reliefs occur along continental margin of the Ross Sea(Antarctica).These features are several kilometres wide and tens of metres high,exhibiting cone or flat-top dome shapes.Previous studies have proposed a volcanic or glacial origin for these formations,but these hypotheses do not account for all the available evidence.In this study,we use morpho-bathymetric data,intermediate resolution multichannel seismic and high resolution chirp profiles,as well as magnetic lines to investigate these clusters of mounds.By employing targeted processing techniques to enhance the geophysical characterization of the seafloor and buried reliefs,and to understand the underlying geological features,we propose that the reliefs are mud volcanoes.Some of these formations appear to be associated with a plumbing system,as indicated by acoustic anomalies linked to sediment containing gas.These formations are likely fed by clayey source rocks of Miocene age.Additionally,other reliefs might be the result of mud mobilisation caused by gravity instability and fluid overpressure.

A Seismic Facies Analysis to Determine the Relative Age and History of the Al Idrissi Mud Volcano from Offshore Larache Located in the NW Moroccan Atlantic Margin

Formed on top of the Gulf of Cadiz, the Al Idrissi mud volcano is the shallowest and largest mud volcano in the El Arraiche mud volcano field of the northwestern Moroccan margin. The development and morphology of mud volcanoes from the El Arraiche mud volcanoes group have been studied at a large scale. However, the time interval related to their formation period still needs to be better understood. In this regard, we interpreted and analyzed the seismic facies from the 2D reflection data of the GEOMARGEN-1 campaign, which took place in 2011. The aim was to identify the seismic sequences and draw the Al Idrissi mud volcano system to determine the formation period of the Al Idriss mud volcano. And as a result, the Al Idrissi mud volcano system is made of both buried and superficial bicone and was identified along with the Upper Tortonian to Messinian-Upper Pliocene facies. As the initial mud volcano extrusive edifice, the buried bicone was formed in the Late-Messinian to Early-Pliocene period. However, the superficial bicone, as the final extrusive edifice, was included in the Late Pliocene. In this case, the timing interval between the buried and superficial bicone is equivalent to the Late-Messinian to Upper-Pliocene period. Therefore, the latter corresponds to the Al Idrissi mud volcano formation period.

Iron Speciation of Mud Breccia from the Dushanzi Mud Volcano in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,NW China

Organic-inorganic interactions occurring in petroleum-related mud volcanoes can help predict the chemical processes that are responsible for methane emissions to the atmosphere. Seven samples of mud breccia directly ejected from one crater were collected in the Dushanzi mud volcano, along with one argillite sample of the original reddish host rocks distal from the crater, for comparison purposes. The mineral and chemical compositions as well as iron species of all samples were determined using XRD, XRF and M?ssbauer spectroscopy, respectively. The results indicate that a series of marked reactions occurred in the mud volcano systems, more specifically in the mud breccia when compared to the original rocks. Changes mainly included:(1) some conversion of clay minerals from smectite into chlorite and illite, and the precipitation of secondary carbonate minerals such as calcite and siderite;(2) silicon depletion and significant elemental enrichment of iron, manganese, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus; and(3) transformation of iron from ferric species in hematite and smectite into ferrous species in siderite, chlorite and illite. These geochemical reactions likely induced the color changes of the original reddish Neogene argillite to the gray or black mud breccia, as a result of reduction of elements and/or alteration of minerals associated with the oxidation of hydrocarbons. Our results also suggest that greenhouse gases emitted from the mud volcanoes are lowered through a series of methane oxidation reactions and carbon fixation(i.e., through carbonate precipitation).

Mud Volcano: Revealing the Stratigraphy of Kendeng Basin, Indonesia

The Kendeng Basin, the major depocenter of the East Java Basin, has been filled with deep-sea clastic volcanic deposits since the Middle Tertiary, which developed into volcanic deposits in the Quaternary. With thick Quaternary volcanic deposits covering almost the entire basin, outcrops are only found in the north, forming a fold-thrust belt structure. The oldest known stratigraphic unit is the early Miocene Pelang Formation, which was deposited in the lower to the upper bathyal zone. Rocks older than the Pelang Formation have not been identified in this basin either from outcrops or drill-hole data. However, the geochemical analysis of oil seepage proves to be different because the oil source rock in Kendeng Basin was interpreted to be of older lithology than the Pelang Formation, indicating a potentially older stratigraphic unit in the Kendeng Basin that has not been revealed to date. Mud volcanoes transported rock material from the Kendeng Basin to the surface, uncovering the stratigraphy that has been an enigma. The material in question includes Nummulites limestones, conglomerates, and quartz sandstones. Paleontological analysis results on rock fragments indicate that they belong to the Middle Eocene age, so they are older than the Pelang Formation. Mud volcano also carried younger limestones to the surface identified as Miocene Age (equivalent with the Pelang Formation), which were deposited in a middle neritic environment, so they provided information that shallow areas possibly formed a horst-graben structure during the Miocene in the Kendeng Basin. The appearance of Eocene and Miocene rock fragments can be used to complement the stratigraphy and it also provides a potentially new concept of source-reservoir rock in the Kendeng Basin.

An explosive mud volcano origin for the pitted cones in southern Utopia Planitia,Mars

Pitted cones are cone-shaped structures,spanning from meters to kilometers in size,characterized by summit depressions.They are widely distributed on the surface of Mars with various origins,such as rootless cones,mud volcanoes,cinder or scoria cones,tuff rings or cones,pingos,and dirt cones.If the pitted cones identified in southern Utopia Planitia are mud volcanoes,as is speculated,they could be of particular interest due to the fact that mud volcanoes on Earth bring sediments from a depth of meters to kilometers to the surface.In this study,we have investigated the pitted cones near Zhurong rover’s landing site in southern Utopia Planitia,utilizing recent images and digital elevation models obtained from the High Resolution Imaging Camera instrument onboard China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter.By leveraging the high-resolution images and digital elevation models,we have conducted a geometric measurement to distinguish the origin of pitted cones in the vicinity of the Zhurong rover.The morphological characteristics of these pitted cones indicate an explosive mud volcano origin.These explosive mud volcanoes could have formed by the violent eruption of subsurface overpressurized sediments generated from the combined effect of overburden pressure and anomalous high heat flow.The sediments forming the pitted cones in the northern plains could be the remnants of an ancient ocean.With future in-situ observations of these pitted cones,we hope to gain further insights into the sediments of the putative northern ocean,as well as the physical and chemical properties of the Martian subsurface during the formation of the pitted cones.

Buried Hydrothermal Systems:The Potential Role of Supercritical Water,“ScriW”,in Various Geological Processes and Occurrences in the Sub-Surface

It is well known that seawater that migrates deep into the Earth’s crust will pass into its supercritical domain at temperatures above 407°C and pressures above 298 bars. In the oceanic crust, these pressures are attained at depths of 3 km below sea surface, and sufficiently high temperatures are found near intruding magmas, which have temperatures in the range of 800°C to 1200°C. The physico-chemical behaviour of seawater changes dramatically when passing into the supercritical domain. A supercritical water vapour (ScriW) is formed with a density of 0.3 g/cc and a strongly reduced dipolar character. This change in polarity is causing the ScriW to lose its solubility of the common sea salts (chlorides and sulphates) and a spontaneous precipitation of sea salts takes place in the pore system. However, this is only one of many cases where the very special properties of ScriW affect its surroundings. The objective of this paper is to increase awareness of the many geological processes that are initiated and governed by ScriW. This includes interactions between ScriW and its geological surroundings to initiate and drive processes that are of major importance to the dynamics and livelihood of our planet. ScriW is the driver of volcanism associated with subduction zones, as ScriW deriving from the subduction slab is interacting with the mantle rocks and reducing their melting point. ScriW is also initiating serpentinization processes where olivines in the mantle rocks (e.g. peridotite) are transformed to serpentine minerals upon the uptake of OH-groups from hydrolysed water. The simultaneous oxidation of Fe2+ dissolved from iron-bearing pyroxenes and olivines leads to the formation of magnetite and hydrogen, and consequently, to a very reducing environment. ScriW may also be the potential starter and driver of the poorly understood mud and asphalt volcanism;both submarine and terrestrial. Furthermore, the lack of polarity of the water molecules in ScriW gives the ScriW vapour the potential to dissolve organic matter and petroleum. The same applies to supercritical brines confined in subduction slabs. If these supercritical water vapours migrate upwards to reach the critical point, the supercritical vapour is condensed into steam and dissolved petroleum is partitioned from the water phase to become a separate fluid phase. This opens up the possibility of transporting petroleum long distances when mixed with ScriW. Therefore, we may, popularly, say that ScriW drives a gigantic underground refinery system and also a salt factory. It is suggested that the result of these processes is that ScriW is rejuvenating the world’s ocean waters, as all of the ocean water circulates into the porous oceanic crust and out again in cycles of less than a million years. In summary, we suggest that ScriW participates in and is partly responsible for: 1) Ocean water rejuvenation and formation;2) Fundamental geological processes, such as volcanism, earthquakes, and meta-morphism (including serpentinization);3) Solid salt production, accumulation, transportation, and (salt) dome formation;4) The initiation and driving of mud, serpentine, and asphalt volcanoes;5) Dissolution of organic matter and petroleum, including transportation and phase separation (fractionation), when passing into the subcritical domain of (liquid) water.

Diapir structure and its constraint on gas hydrate accumulation in the Makran accretionary prism, offshore Pakistan

The Makran accretionary prism is located at the junction of the Eurasian Plate,Arabian Plate and Indian Plate and is rich in natural gas hydrate(NGH)resources.It consists of a narrow continental shelf,a broad continental slope,and a deformation front.The continental slope can be further divided into the upper slope,middle slope,and lower slope.There are three types of diapir structure in the accretionary prism,namely mud diapir,mud volcano,and gas chimney.(1)The mud diapirs can be grouped into two types,namely the ones with low arching amplitude and weak-medium activity energy and the ones with high arching amplitude and medium-strong activity energy.The mud diapirs increase from offshore areas towards onshore areas in general,while the ones favorable for the formation of NGH are mainly distributed on the middle slope in the central and western parts of the accretionary prism.(2)The mud volcanoes are mainly concentrated along the anticline ridges in the southern part of the lower slope and the deformation front.(3)The gas chimneys can be grouped into three types,which are located in piggyback basins,active anticline ridges,and inactive anticline ridges,respectively.They are mainly distributed on the middle slope in the central and western parts of the accretionary prism and most of them are accompanied with thrust faults.The gas chimneys located at different tectonic locations started to be active at different time and pierced different horizons.The mud diapirs,mud volcanoes,and gas chimneys and thrust faults serve as the main pathways of gas migration,and thus are the important factors that control the formation,accumulation,and distribution of NGH in the Makran accretionary prism.Mud diapir/gas chimney type hydrate develop in the middle slope,mud volcano type hydrate develop in the southern lower slope and the deformation front,and stepped accretionary prism type hydrate develop on the central and northern lower slope.The middle slope,lower slope and deformation front in the central and western parts of the Makran accretionary prism jointly constitute the NGH prospect area.

Studies on biodiversity and bioprospecting of active mud volcano associated bacteria and actinobacteria from Baratang,Andaman Islands,India

A total of 79 bacteria and 101 actinobacteria strains were isolated from the sediment samples of the different points of Baratang mud volcano viz.,point of the eruption(M),middle of the volcano(MD),and the dried part of the mud volcano(E).Based on the biochemical and molecular characterization,the isolates were categorized under the phyla Proteobacteria,Firmicutes and Proteobacteria included representatives of Classes Alphaproteobacteria,Gammaproteobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria of 29 genera with 38 distinct ribotypes.Thirty-eight bacterial strains from four different regions of mud volcano revealed excellent activity for indole-3-acetic acid(IAA)production.Excellent antagonistic property,plant growth promoting properties such as IAA production,phosphate,potassium and zinc solubilization were identified in Bacillus megaterium NIOT_MV 31 strain of 38 studied isolates.In this study,we investigated the optimization of IAA production by B.megaterium NIOT_MV 31 and its formulation as a plant growth promoter to improve economic and agricultural development.Maximum IAA yield was achieved using optimal conditions(42.63 mg/mL)in the presence of optimized tryptophan after 4 days of incubation.Twofold increase in the plant growth parameters were observed to that of control plants.Optimization of culture conditions resulted in a fourfold increase in IAA production by B.megaterium NIOT_MV 31 cells.The results clearly demonstrated that,B.megaterium NIOT_MV 31 holds great potential as a source for IAA production and may be useful for commercial applications.

Chemical geothermometry:application to mud volcanic waters of the Caucasus region

The generation temperatures of gas-water fluids released from mud volcanoes in different provinces of the Caucasian region have been constrained using Mg/Li(T_(Mg/Li))chemical geothermometry.Mud volcanic fluids in the Taman Peninsula(Kerch-Taman mud volcanic province)were generated at temperatures(T_(Mg/Li))from 41℃ to 137℃.The depths of the respective mud reservoirs estimated from T_(Mg/Li) values and local geothermal gradient are in a range of 1.0 to 3.4 km which spans the Maykop Formation of marine shale.For the South Caspian province,the T_(Mg/Li) values of waters vary from 18℃ to 137℃ and the respective root depths HMg/Li of mud volcanoes range from∼0.85 to 6.5 km.The obtained T_(Mg/Li) values for the analyzed mud volcanic waters from Caucasian provinces are in positive correlation with HCO3^(−)contents and water oxygen isotope compositions(δ^(18)OH_(2)O andΔδ^(18)OH_(2)O)and in high negative correlation with Cl^(−).The increase of T_(Mg/Li) toward the Greater Caucasus Range,as well as the lateral T_(Mg/Li) patterns in the Taman and South Caspian mud volcanic provinces,support the idea that mud volcanic fluids generate at temperatures increasing progressively toward the Alpine orogenic belt.

Bacterial and archaeal communities in saline soils from a Los Negritos geothermal area in Mexico

In recent years,there has been a growing need to understand how salinity affects microbial communities in agricultural soils.Archaeal and bacterial community diversities and structures were investigated by high-throughput sequencing analysis of their 16S rRNA in two arable soils with low electrical conductivity(EC)(2.3 and 2.6 dS m^(-1))and a saline soil(EC=17.6 dS m^(-1)).The dominant bacterial phyla in the soils were Proteobacteria(relative abundance(RA)=46.2%),followed by Acidobacteria(RA=13.1%)and Actinobacteria(RA=10.0%),whereas Serratia(RA=6.0%)and Bacillus(RA=4.0%)were the dominant bacterial genera.Candidatus Nitrososphaera(53.5%)was the dominant archaeal phylotype in the arable soils,whereas Nitrosopumilus(RA=0.4%)dominated in the saline soil.The archaeal and bacterial community structures were different between the soils and significantly correlated with soil sand,arsenic,barium,and antimony contents,but not with soil salinity.

Report of epibenthic macrofauna found from Haima cold seeps and adjacent deep-sea habitats,South China Sea

This work reports on a preliminary taxonomic study of epibenthic macroinvertebrates collected or observed by underwater video at the Haima cold seeps and in adjacent deep-sea habitats,including a mud volcano feld and Ganquan Plateau,during an expedition in the South China Sea by the Chinese-manned submersible Shenhai Yongshi in May 2018.A total of 41 species belonging to 6 phyla were identifed,among which 34 species were collected from the Haima cold seeps.Mollusks and crustaceans that are specialized in reducing habitats were predominant in biotopes of the Haima cold seeps,whereas sponges and cold-water corals and their commensals were prominent in communities of the mud volcano feld and the slopes of Ganquan Plateau.The distribution and faunal composition of each taxonomic group are discussed.