Abiotic methane from ultraslow-spreading ridges can charge Arctic gas hydrates

作者：Johnson Joel E^*; Mienert Jurgen; Plaza Faverola Andreia; Vadakkepuliyambatta Sunil; Knies Jochen; Bunz Stefan; Andreassen Karin; Ferre Benedicte

来源：Geology, 2015, 43(5): 371-374.

DOI：10.1130/G36440.1

Biotic gas generation from the degradation of organic carbon in marine sediments supplies and maintains gas hydrates throughout the world's oceans. In nascent, ultraslow-spreading ocean basins, methane generation can also be abiotic, occurring during the high-temperature (>200 degrees C) serpentinization of ultramafic rocks. Here, we report on the evolution of a growing Arctic gas-and gas hydrate-charged sediment drift on oceanic crust in eastern Fram Strait, a tectonically controlled, deep-water gateway between the subpolar North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Ultraslow-spreading ridges between northwest Svalbard and northeast Greenland permit the sustained interaction of a mid-ocean ridge transform fault and developing sediment drift, on both young (<10 Ma) and old (>10 Ma) oceanic crust, since the late Miocene. Geophysical data image the gas-charged drift and crustal structure and constrain the timing of a major 30 km lateral displacement of the drift across the Molloy transform fault. We describe the buildup of a 2 m.y., long-lived gas hydrate-and free gas-charged drift system on young oceanic crust that may be fed and maintained by a dominantly abiotic methane source. Ultraslow-spreading, sedimented ridge flanks represent a previously unrecognized carbon reservoir for abiotic methane that could supply and maintain deep-water methane hydrate systems throughout the Arctic.

• 出版日期2015-5