Description: Widespread seepage of methane from seafloor sediments offshore Svalbard close to the landward limit of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) may, in part, be driven by hydrate destabilization due to bottom water warming. To assess whether this methane reaches the atmosphere where it may contribute to further warming, we have undertaken comprehensive surveys of methane in seawater and air on the upper slope and shelf region. Near the GHSZ limit at ∼400 m water depth, methane concentrations are highest close to the seabed, reaching 825 nM. A simple box model of dissolved methane removal from bottom waters by horizontal and vertical mixing and microbially mediated oxidation indicates that ∼60% of methane released at the seafloor is oxidized at depth before it mixes with overlying surface waters. Deep waters are therefore not a significant source of methane to intermediate and surface waters; rather, relatively high methane concentrations in these waters (up to 50 nM) are attributed to isopycnal turbulent mixing with shelf waters. On the shelf, extensive seafloor seepage at 〈100 m water depth produces methane concentrations of up to 615 nM. The diffusive flux of methane from sea to air in the vicinity of the landward limit of the GHSZ is ∼4-20 μmol m-2 d-1, which is small relative to other Arctic sources. In support of this, analyses of mole fractions and the carbon isotope signature of atmospheric methane above the seeps do not indicate a significant local contribution from the seafloor source.

Description: Emissions of methane gas from cold seeps on the seafloor have a strong impact on a number of biogeochemical processes. These processes include the development of deepsea benthic ecosystems via the process of anaerobic oxidation of methane [Boetius et al., 2000] or the precipitation of carbonates [Ritger et al., 1987]. The fluxes of other chemical species associated with methane emissions may even influence the chemical composition of seawater [Aloisi et al., 2004]. Such gas emissions may have been much more intensive in the past with a strong impact on global climate [Dickens, 1999], as suggested by carbon isotope data.

Description: [1] Fluid distribution in convergent margins is by most accounts closely related to tectonics. This association has been widely studied at accretionary prisms, but at half of the Earth's convergent margins, tectonic erosion grinds down overriding plates, and here fluid distribution and its relation to tectonics remain speculative. Here we present a new conceptual model for the hydrological system of erosional convergent margins. The model is based largely on new data and recently published observations from along the Middle America Trench offshore Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and it is consistent with observations from other erosional margins. The observations indicate that erosional margins possess previously unrecognized distinct hydrogeological systems: Most fluid contained in the sediment pores and liberated by early dehydration reactions drains from the plate boundary through a fractured upper plate to seep at the seafloor across the slope, rather than migrating along the décollement toward the deformation front as described for accretionary prisms. The observations indicate that the relative fluid abundance across the plate-boundary fault zone and fluid migration influence long-term tectonics and the transition from aseismic to seismogenic behavior. The segment of the plate boundary where fluid appears to be more abundant corresponds to the locus of long-term tectonic erosion, where tectonic thinning of the overriding plate causes subsidence and the formation of the continental slope. This correspondence between observations indicates that tectonic erosion is possibly linked to the migration of overpressured fluids into the overriding plate. The presence of overpressured fluids at the plate boundary is compatible with the highest flow rates estimated at slope seeps. The change from aseismic to seismogenic behavior along the plate boundary of the erosional margin begins where the amount of fluid at the fault declines with depth, indicating a control on interplate earthquakes. A previously described similar observation along accreting plate boundaries strongly indicates that fluid abundance exerts a first-order control on interplate seismogenesis at all types of subduction zones. We hypothesize that fluid depletion with depth increases grain-to-grain contact, increasing effective stress on the fault, and modifies fault zone architecture from a thick fault zone to a narrower zone of localized slip.

Description: [1] A systematic search for methane-rich fluid seeps at the seafloor was conducted at the Pacific continental margin offshore southern Nicaragua and northern central Costa Rica, a convergent margin characterized by subduction erosion. More than 100 fluid seeps were discovered using a combination of multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar imagery, TV-sled observations, and sampling. This corresponds, on average, to a seep site every 4 km along the continental slope. In the northwestern part of the study area, subduction of oceanic crust formed at the East Pacific Rise is characterized by pervasive bending-induced faulting of the oceanic plate and a relatively uniform morphology of the overriding continental margin. Seepage at this part of the margin typically occurs at approximately cone-shaped mounds 50 - 100 m high and up to 1 km wide at the base. Over 60 such mounds were identified on the 240 km long margin segment. Some normal faults also host localized seepage. In contrast, in the southeast, the 220 km long margin segment overriding the oceanic crust formed at the Cocos-Nazca Spreading Centre has a comparatively more irregular morphology caused mainly by the subduction of ridges and seamounts sitting on the oceanic plate. Over 40 seeps were located on this part of the margin. This margin segment with irregular morphology exhibits diverse seep structures. Seeps are related to landslide scars, seamount-subduction related fractures, mounds, and faults. Several backscatter anomalies in side-scan images are without apparent relief and are probably related to carbonate precipitation. Detected fluid seeps are not evenly distributed across the margin but occur in a roughly margin parallel band centered 28 ± 7 km landward of the trench. This distribution suggests that seeps are possibly fed to fluids rising from the plate boundary along deep-penetrating faults through the upper plate.

Description: Fluid venting has been observed along 800 km of the Alaska convergent margin. The fluid venting sites are located near the deformation front, are controlled by subsurface structures, and exhibit the characteristics of cold seeps seen in other convergent margins. The more important characteristics include (1) methane plumes in the lower water column with maxima above the seafloor which are traceable to the initial deformation ridges; (2) prolific colonies of vent biota aligned and distributed in patches controlled by fault scarps, over‐steepened folds or outcrops of bedding planes; (3) calcium carbonate and barite precipitates at the surface and subsurface of vents; and (4) carbon isotope evidence from tissue and skeletal hard parts of biota, as well as from carbonate precipitates, that vents expel either methane‐ or sulfide‐dominated fluids. A biogeochemical approach toward estimating fluid flow rates from individual vents based on oxygen flux measurements and vent fluid analysis indicates a mean value of 5.5±0.7 L m−2 d−1 for tectonics‐induced water flow [Wallmann et al., 1997b]. A geophysical estimate of dewatering from the same area [von Huene et al., 1997] based on sediment porosity reduction shows a fluid loss of 0.02 L m−2 d−1 for a 5.5 km wide converged segment near the deformation front. Our video‐guided surveys have documented vent biota across a minimum of 0.1% of the area of the convergent segment off Kodiak Island; hence an average rate of 0.006 L m−2 d−1 is estimated from the biogeochemical approach. The two estimates for tectonics‐induced water flow from the accretionary prism are in surprisingly good agreement.

Description: At Hook Ridge hydrothermal vent, a new species of Sclerolinum (Monilifera, Siboglinidae) was found at a water depth of 1,045 m. On the basis of investigations of multicores and gravity cores, the species habitat is characterized. Sclerolinum does not occur in sediments that are most strongly influenced by hydrothermal fluids, probably because of high temperature (up to 49°C) and precipitation of siliceous crusts. About 800 individuals m-2 occur in sediments that are only weakly exposed to hydrothermal flow and have the following characteristics: 20°C (15 cm sediment depth) to 21.5°C (bottom water), 18-40 cm yr-1 advection rates, pH 5.5, 〈25 µmol L-1 methane, 〈170 µmol L-1 sulfide, and 〈0.0054 mol m-2 yr-1 sulfide flux. Comparison with geochemical data from other reducing sediments indicates that the two groups of Siboglinidae, Monilifera and Frenulata, occur in sediments with low sulfide concentration and flux. In contrast, sulfurbased chemosynthetic organisms that typically occur at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps (e.g., Vestimentifera, vesicomyid clams, and bacterial mats) occur in sediments with higher sulfide availability; threshold values are around 500 µmol L-1 sulfide and 0.1 mol m-2 yr-1 sulfide fluxes. We did not find typical hydrothermal vent species at Hook Ridge hydrothermal vent, which might be explained by the unfavorable physicochemical habitat: At sites inhabited by Sclerolinum, sulfide availability appears to be too low, whereas at sites with higher sulfide availability, the temperatures might be too high, siliceous crust precipitation could preclude their occurrence, or both.