Cite this paper:
Chaoqi Zhu, Sanzhong Li, Jiangxin Chen, Dawei Wang, Xiaoshuai Song, Zhenghui Li, Bo Chen, Hongxian Shan, Yonggang Jia. Nepheloid layer generation by gas eruption: unexpected experimental results[J]. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 2023, 41(2): 769-777

Nepheloid layer generation by gas eruption: unexpected experimental results

Chaoqi Zhu1,2,3,4, Sanzhong Li3,5, Jiangxin Chen5,6, Dawei Wang7, Xiaoshuai Song1, Zhenghui Li1, Bo Chen4, Hongxian Shan1,2, Yonggang Jia1,2
1. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Geological Engineering, Key Lab of Submarine Geosciences and Prospecting Techniques, Ministry of Education(MOE), Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China;
2. Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, China;
3. Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, and College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China;
4. Hainan Key Laboratory of Marine Geological Resources and Environment, Haikou, 570206, China;
5. Laboratory for Marine Mineral Resources, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, China;
6. Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, 266061, China;
7. Laboratory of Marine Geophysics and Georeource, Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, China
Abstract:
Knowledge of nepheloid layers is important to improve the understanding of physical, geological, and sedimentary processes from continental shelf to abyssal environments. We had not tried to study the nepheloid layers in a hydrate-associated tank until unexpected results occurred. Tank experimental results show that gas eruptions triggered intermediate nepheloid layers. Thus, we proposed a new mechanism of intermediate nepheloid layer generation by eruptions. The intermediate nepheloid layers were generated in uniform-density fluid, which indicated that stratified fluid is not a necessary condition for intermediate nepheloid layers. Sufficient space for advection and an oblique slope for detachment are the key ingredients for intermediate nepheloid layer generation by eruptions. Our experiments also offer a new experimental evidence for bottom nepheloid layer generation by earthquakes. Given the scale effects of laboratory experiment, it is important to determine whether submarine volcanic eruption or hydrate-associated venting causes intermediate nepheloid layer in the nature.
Key words:    intermediate nepheloid layer|gas eruption|bottom nepheloid layer|gas hydrate|tank experiment|seafloor instability   
Received: 2022-03-09   Revised:
Tools
PDF (5503 KB) Free
Print this page
Add to favorites
Email this article to others
Authors
Articles by Chaoqi Zhu
Articles by Sanzhong Li
Articles by Jiangxin Chen
Articles by Dawei Wang
Articles by Xiaoshuai Song
Articles by Zhenghui Li
Articles by Bo Chen
Articles by Hongxian Shan
Articles by Yonggang Jia
References:
[1] Andreassen K, Hubbard A, Winsborrow M et al. 2017. Massive blow-out craters formed by hydrate-controlled methane expulsion from the Arctic seafloor. Science, 356(6341):948-952, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal4500.
[2] Arjona-Camas M, Puig P, Palanques A et al. 2019. Evidence of trawling-induced resuspension events in the generation of nepheloid layers in the Foix submarine canyon (NW Mediterranean). Journal of Marine Systems, 196:86-96, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2019.05.003.
[3] Arthur R S, Fringer O B. 2016. Transport by breaking internal gravity waves on slopes. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 789:93-126, https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2015.723.
[4] Ben-Avraham Z, Smith G, Reshef M et al. 2002. Gas hydrate and mud volcanoes on the southwest African continental margin off South Africa. Geology, 30(10):927-930, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0927:GHAMVO>2.0.CO;2.
[5] Berndt C, Feseker T, Treude T et al. 2014. Temporal constraints on hydrate-controlled methane seepage off svalbard. Science, 343(6168):284-287, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1246298.
[6] Biscaye P E, Eittreim S L. 1977. Suspended particulate loads and transports in the nepheloid layer of the abyssal Atlantic Ocean. Marine Geology, 23(1-2):155-172, https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(77)90087-1.
[7] Boegman L, Stastna M. 2019. Sediment resuspension and transport by internal solitary waves. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, 51:129-154, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-fluid-122316-045049.
[8] Bogucki D J, Redekopp L G. 1999. A mechanism for sediment resuspension by internal solitary waves. Geophysical Research Letters, 26(9):1317-1320, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GL900234.
[9] Bogucki D J, Redekopp L G, Barth J. 2005. Internal solitary waves in the Coastal Mixing and Optics 1996 experiment:multimodal structure and resuspension. Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans, 110(C2):C02024, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JC002253.
[10] Bourgault D, Morsilli M, Richards C et al. 2014. Sediment resuspension and nepheloid layers induced by long internal solitary waves shoaling orthogonally on uniform slopes. Continental Shelf Research, 72:21-33, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2013.10.019.
[11] Brothers L L, Van Dover C L, German C R et al. 2013. Evidence for extensive methane venting on the southeastern U.S. Atlantic margin. Geology, 41(7):807-810, https://doi.org/10.1130/G34217.1.
[12] Browand F K, Guyomar D, Yoon S C. 1987. The behavior of a turbulent front in a stratified fluid:experiments with an oscillating grid. Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans, 92(C5):5329-5341, https://doi.org/10.1029/JC092iC05p05329.
[13] Bünz S, Polyanov S, Vadakkepuliyambatta S et al. 2012. Active gas venting through hydrate-bearing sediments on the Vestnesa Ridge, offshore W-Svalbard. Marine Geology, 332-334:189-197, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2012.09.012.
[14] Chen Y L, Ding J S, Zhang H Q et al. 2019. Multibeam water column data research in the Taixinan Basin:implications for the potential occurrence of natural gas hydrate. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 38(5):129-133, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-019-1444-0.
[15] Cheriton O M, McPhee-Shaw E E, Shaw W J et al. 2014. Suspended particulate layers and internal waves over the southern Monterey Bay continental shelf:an important control on shelf mud belts? Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans, 119(1):428-444, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JC009360.
[16] Cole D, Stewart S A, Cartwright J A. 2000. Giant irregular pockmark craters in the Palaeogene of the Outer Moray Firth Basin, UK North Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 17(5):563-577, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-8172(00)00013-1.
[17] de Madron X D, Ramondenc S, Berline L et al. 2017. Deep sediment resuspension and thick nepheloid layer generation by open-ocean convection. Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans, 122(3):2291-2318, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JC012062.
[18] Decker R, Decker B. 2005. Volcanoes. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York.
[19] Fitzsimmons J N, John S G, Marsay C M et al. 2017. Iron persistence in a distal hydrothermal plume supported by dissolved-particulate exchange. Nature Geoscience, 10(3):195-201, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2900.
[20] Gardner W D. 1989. Baltimore Canyon as a modern conduit of sediment to the deep sea. Deep Sea Research Part A. Oceanographic Research Papers, 36(3):323-358, https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-0149(89)90041-1.
[21] Gardner W D, Richardson M J, Mishonov A V. 2018. Global assessment of benthic nepheloid layers and linkage with upper ocean dynamics. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 482:126-134, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.11.008.
[22] Gardner W D, Tucholke B E, Richardson M J et al. 2017. Benthic storms, nepheloid layers, and linkage with upper ocean dynamics in the western North Atlantic. Marine Geology, 385:304-327, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2016.12.012.
[23] Gay A, Cavailhès T, Grauls D et al. 2017. Repeated fluid expulsions during events of rapid sea-level rise in the Gulf of Lion, western Mediterranean Sea. BSGF-Earth Sciences Bulletin, 188(4):24, https://doi.org/10.1051/bsgf/2017190.
[24] Geng M H, Song H B, Guan Y X et al. 2018. Research on the distribution and characteristics of the nepheloid layers in the northern South China Sea by use of seismic oceanography method. Chinese Journal of Geophysics, 61(2):636-648, https://doi.org/10.6038/cjg2018L0662. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[25] Global Volcanism Program, 2009. Report on hunga Tongahunga Ha'apai (Tonga). In:Venzke E A, Wunderman R eds. Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network. Smithsonian Institution, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN200903-243040.
[26] Global Volcanism Program. 2022. Report on hunga Tonga-Hunga ha'apai (Tonga). In: Bennis K L, Venzke E eds. Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network. Smithsonian Institution.
[27] Graue K. 2000. Mud volcanoes in deepwater Nigeria. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 17(8):959-974, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-8172(00)00016-7.
[28] Helfrich K R. 1992. Internal solitary wave breaking and runup on a uniform slope. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 243:133-154, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112092002660.
[29] Holmes R, Alexande S, Ball K et al. 1998. The Issues Surrounding a Shallow Gas Database in Relation to Offshore Hazards. Health and Safety Executive, Sheffield.
[30] Inthorn M, Mohrholz V, Zabel M. 2006. Nepheloid layer distribution in the Benguela upwelling area offshore Namibia. Deep Sea Research Part I:Oceanographic Research Papers, 53(8):1423-1438, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2006.06.004.
[31] Jia Y G, Zhu C Q, Liu L P et al. 2016. Marine geohazards:review and future perspective. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition), 90(4):1455-1470, https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-6724.12779.
[32] Judd A. 2005. Gas emissions from mud volcanoes:significance to global climate change. In: Martinelli G, Panahi B eds. Mud Volcanoes, Geodynamics and Seismicity. Springer, Dordrecht. p.147-157, https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3204-8_13
[33] Klingaman W K, Klingaman N P. 2013. The Year Without Summer:1816 and the Volcano that Darkened the World and Changed History. St. Martin's Press, New York.
[34] Lammers S, Suess E, Hovland M. 1995. A large methane plume east of Bear Island (Barents Sea):implications for the marine methane cycle. Geologische Rundschau, 84(1):59-66, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00192242.
[35] Lorenzoni L, Thunell R C, Benitez-Nelson C R et al. 2009. The importance of subsurface nepheloid layers in transport and delivery of sediments to the eastern Cariaco Basin, Venezuela. Deep Sea Research Part I:Oceanographic Research Papers, 56(12):2249-2262, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2009.08.001.
[36] Luterbacher J, Pfister C. 2015. The year without a summer. Nature Geoscience, 8(4):246-248, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2404.
[37] Manga M, Brodsky E. 2006. Seismic triggering of eruptions in the far field:volcanoes and geysers. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 34:263-291, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.34.031405.125125.
[38] Manneela S, Kumar S. 2022. Overview of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'Apai volcanic eruption and tsunami. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 98(3):299-304, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-022-1980-7.
[39] Masunaga E, Arthur R S, Fringer O B et al. 2017. Sediment resuspension and the generation of intermediate nepheloid layers by shoaling internal bores. Journal of Marine Systems, 170:31-41, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2017.01.017.
[40] Mazurenko L L, Soloviev V A, Gardner J M et al. 2003. Gas hydrates in the Ginsburg and Yuma mud volcano sediments (Moroccan Margin):results of chemical and isotopic studies of pore water. Marine Geology, 195(1-4):201-210, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(02)00688-6.
[41] Mazzini A, Svensen H, Akhmanov G G et al. 2007. Triggering and dynamic evolution of the LUSI mud volcano, Indonesia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 261(3-4):375-388, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2007.07.001.
[42] McCave I N. 1986. Local and global aspects of the bottom nepheloid layers in the world ocean. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research, 20(2-3):167-181, https://doi.org/10.1016/0077-7579(86)90040-2.
[43] McCave I N. 2019. Nepheloid layers. In: Cochran J K, Bokuniewicz H J, Yager P L eds. Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences. 3rd edn. Academic Press, Amsterdam. p.170-183, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11207-2
[44] McPhee-Shaw E E, Kunze E. 2002. Boundary layer intrusions from a sloping bottom:a mechanism for generating intermediate nepheloid layers. Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans, 107(C6):3050, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JC000801.
[45] McPhee-Shaw E E, Sternberg R W, Mullenbach B et al. 2004. Observations of intermediate nepheloid layers on the northern California continental margin. Continental Shelf Research, 24(6):693-720, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2004.01.004.
[46] Milkov A V. 2000. Worldwide distribution of submarine mud volcanoes and associated gas hydrates. Marine Geology, 167(1-2):29-42, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(00)00022-0.
[47] Nixon F C, Chand S, Thorsnes T et al. 2019. A modified gas hydrate-geomorphological model for a new discovery of enigmatic craters and seabed mounds in the Central Barents Sea, Norway. Geo-Marine Letters, 39(3):191-203, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-019-00567-1.
[48] Pak H, Zaneveld J R V, Kitchen J. 1980. Intermediate nepheloid layers observed off Oregon and Washington. Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans, 85(C11):6697-6708, https://doi.org/10.1029/JC085iC11p06697.
[49] Palanques A, Puig P. 2018. Particle fluxes induced by benthic storms during the 2012 dense shelf water cascading and open sea convection period in the northwestern Mediterranean basin. Marine Geology, 406:119-131, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2018.09.010.
[50] Prior D B, Doyle E H, Kaluza M J. 1989. Evidence for sediment eruption on deep sea floor, Gulf of Mexico. Science, 243(4890):517-519, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.243.4890.517.
[51] Puig P, Greenan B J W, Li M Z et al. 2013. Sediment transport processes at the head of Halibut Canyon, eastern Canada margin:an interplay between internal tides and dense shelf-water cascading. Marine Geology, 341:14-28, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2013.05.004.
[52] Puig P, Palanques A, Guillén J et al. 2004. Role of internal waves in the generation of nepheloid layers on the northwestern Alboran slope:implications for continental margin shaping. Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans, 109(C9):C09011, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JC002394.
[53] Resing J A, Sedwick P N, German C R et al. 2015. Basin-scale transport of hydrothermal dissolved metals across the South Pacific Ocean. Nature, 523(7559):200-203, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14577.
[54] Riboulot V, Ker S, Sultan N et al. 2018. Freshwater lake to salt-water sea causing widespread hydrate dissociation in the Black Sea. Nature Communications, 9(1):117, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02271-z.
[55] Schmidt M, Hensen C, Mörz T et al. 2005. Methane hydrate accumulation in "Mound 11" mud volcano, Costa Rica forearc. Marine Geology, 216(1-2):83-100, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2005.01.001.
[56] Skarke A, Ruppel C, Kodis M et al. 2014. Widespread methane leakage from the sea floor on the northern US Atlantic margin. Nature Geoscience, 7(9):657-661, https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2232.
[57] Solheim A, Elverhøi A. 1993. Gas-related sea floor craters in the Barents Sea. Geo-Marine Letters, 13(4):235-243, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01207753.
[58] Thorpe S A, White M. 1988. A deep intermediate nepheloid layer. Deep Sea Research Part A. Oceanographic Research Papers, 35(9):1665-1671, https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-0149(88)90109-4.
[59] Thunell R, Tappa E, Varela R et al. 1999. Increased marine sediment suspension and fluxes following an earthquake. Nature, 398(6724):233-236, https://doi.org/10.1038/18430.
[60] Tian Z C, Zhang S T, Guo X J et al. 2019. Experimental investigation of sediment dynamics in response to breaking high-frequency internal solitary wave packets over a steep slope. Journal of Marine Systems, 199:103191, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2019.103191.
[61] van Haren H, Hosegood P J. 2017. A downslope propagating thermal front over the continental slope. Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans, 122(4):3191-3199, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012797.
[62] van Weering T C E, De Stigter H C, Balzer W et al. 2001. Benthic dynamics and carbon fluxes on the NW European continental margin. Deep Sea Research Part II:Topical Studies in Oceanography, 48(14-15):3191-3221, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(01)00037-6.
[63] Vsemirnova E A, Hobbs R W, Hosegood P. 2012. Mapping turbidity layers using seismic oceanography methods. Ocean Science, 8(1):11-18, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-8-11-2012.
[64] Walter T R, Wang R, Acocella V et al. 2009. Simultaneous magma and gas eruptions at three volcanoes in southern Italy:an earthquake trigger? Geology, 37(3):251-254, https://doi.org/10.1130/G25396A.
[65] Westbrook G K, Thatcher K E, Rohling E J et al. 2009. Escape of methane gas from the seabed along the West Spitsbergen continental margin. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(15):L15608, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL039191.
[66] Wilson A M. 2016. Lateral Transport of Suspended Particulate Matter in Nepheloid Layers Along the Irish Continental Margin-a Case Study of the Whittard Canyon, North-East Atlantic Ocean. National University of Ireland, Galway.
[67] Yan X, Sun H Y, Chen Z X et al. 2020. Physical experimental study on the formation mechanism of pockmark by aeration. Marine Georesources & Geotechnology, 38(3):322-331, https://doi.org/10.1080/1064119X.2019.1571539.
[68] Zhu C Q, Cheng S, Zhang M S et al. 2019. Results from multibeam survey of the gas hydrate reservoir in the Zhujiang submarine canyons. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition), 93(S2):135-138, https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-6724.14223.
[69] Zhu C Q, Jiao X R, Cheng S et al. 2020. Visualising fluid migration due to hydrate dissociation:implications for submarine slides. Environmental Geotechnics, https://doi.org/10.1680/jenge.19.00068.
[70] Zhu C Q, Li Z H, Chen D X et al. 2021. Seafloor breathing helping forecast hydrate-related geohazards. Energy Reports, 7:8108-8114, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2021.08.187.
Copyright © Haiyang Xuebao