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Fabric of gas hydrate in sediments from Hydrate Ridge—results from ODP Leg 204 samples

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Abstract

Drilling on Hydrate Ridge, offshore Oregon, during ODP Leg 204 enabled us to investigate fabrics of gas hydrate samples in a wide depth range of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). X-ray computerized tomographic imaging on whole-round samples, frozen in liquid nitrogen, revealed that layered gas hydrate structures are related to variable processes occurring at different sediment depths. Shallow gas hydrates often form layers parallel or sub-parallel to bedding and also crosscut sedimentary strata and other gas hydrate layers, destroying the original depositional fabric. The dynamic processes interacting with this complicated plumbing system in this shallow environment are responsible for such highly variable gas hydrate fabrics. Gas hydrate layers deeper in the sediments are most often dipping with various angles, and are interpreted as gas hydrate precipitates filling tectonic fractures. These originally open fractures are potential candidates for free gas transportation, and might explain why free gas can rapidly emanate from below the bottom-simulating reflector through the GHSZ to the seafloor.

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Acknowledgements

This research used samples and data provided by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). ODP is sponsored by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and participating countries under management of Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI). Funding for this research was provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grant BO 1049/7 and KU 920/13). We thank Mrs. Kornelia Graef for her assistance in CT scanning. The authors would also like to thank Alan Judd for the English revision of the manuscript, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments which helped improving the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center Ocean Margins, University of Bremen, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    F. Abegg & G. Bohrmann

  2. Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 27568, Bremerhaven, Germany

    J. Freitag

  3. GeoZentrum Göttingen, Abt. Kristallographie, University Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    W. Kuhs

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  1. F. Abegg
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  2. G. Bohrmann
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  3. J. Freitag
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  4. W. Kuhs
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Correspondence to F. Abegg.

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Abegg, F., Bohrmann, G., Freitag, J. et al. Fabric of gas hydrate in sediments from Hydrate Ridge—results from ODP Leg 204 samples. Geo-Mar Lett 27, 269–277 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-007-0080-4

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