Seabed fluid expulsion along the upper slope and outer shelf of the U.S. Atlantic continental margin

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Abstract

Identifying the spatial distribution of seabed fluid expulsion features is crucial for understanding the substrate plumbing system of any continental margin. A 1100 km stretch of the U.S. Atlantic margin contains more than 5000 pockmarks at water depths of 120 m (shelf edge) to 700 m (upper slope), mostly updip of the contemporary gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). Advanced attribute analyses of high-resolution multichannel seismic reflection data reveal gas-charged sediment and probable fluid chimneys beneath pockmark fields. A series of enhanced reflectors, inferred to represent hydrate-bearing sediments, occur within the GHSZ. Differential sediment loading at the shelf edge and warming-induced gas hydrate dissociation along the upper slope are the proposed mechanisms that led to transient changes in substrate pore fluid overpressure, vertical fluid/gas migration, and pockmark formation. Key Points Thousands of pockmarks discovered along the upper slope and outer shelf Evidence for fluidization and for the presence of hydrate-bearing sediments Upper slope gas hydrate dissociation may be linked to recent climatic changes ©2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

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Brothers, D. S., Ruppel, C., Kluesner, J. W., Ten Brink, U. S., Chaytor, J. D., Hill, J. C., … Flores, C. (2014). Seabed fluid expulsion along the upper slope and outer shelf of the U.S. Atlantic continental margin. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(1), 96–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL058048

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