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T.D. Lorenson

Publications and source records attributed to T.D. Lorenson.

47 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
USGS1999

Gas hydrate accumulation at the Hakon Mosby Mud Volcano

Gas hydrate (GH) accumulation is characterized and modeled for the Hakon Mosby mud volcano, ca. 1.5 km across, located on the Norway-Barents-Svalbard margin. Pore water chemical and isotopic results based on shallow sediment cores as well as geothermal and geomorphological data suggest that the GH accumulation is of a concentric pattern controlled by and formed essentially from the ascending mud volcano fluid. The gas hydrate content of sediment peaks at 25% by volume, averaging about 1.2% throughout the accumulation. The amount of hydrate methane is estimated at ca. 108 m3 STP, which could account for about 1-10% of the gas that has escaped from the volcano since its origin.

Geo-Marine Letters↗
USGS1999

Gas composition and isotopic geochemistry of cuttings, core, and gas hydrate from the JAPEX/JNOC/GSC Mallik 2L-38 gas hydrate research well

Molecular and isotopic composition of gases from the JAPEX/JNOC/GSC Mallik 2L-38 gas hydrate research well demonstrate that the in situ gases can be divided into three zones composed of mixtures of microbial and thermogenic gases. Sediments penetrated by the well are thermally immature; thus the sediments are probably not a source of thermogenic gas. Thermogenic gas likely migrated from depths below 5000 m. Higher concentrations of gas within and beneath the gas hydrate zone suggest that gas hydrate is a partial barrier to gas migration. Gas hydrate accumulations occur wholly within zone 3, below the base of permafrost. The gas in gas hydrate resembles, in part, the thermogenic gas in surrounding sediments and gas desorbed from lignite. Gas hydrate composition implies that the primary gas hydrate form is Structure I. However, Structure II stabilizing gases are more concentrated and isotopically partitioned in gas hydrate relative to the sediment hosting the gas hydrate, implying that Structure II gas hydrate may be present in small quantities.

Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Canada↗
USGS1998

Chemistry, isotopic composition, and origin of a methane-hydrogen sulfide hydrate at the Cascadia subduction zone

Although the presence of extensive gas hydrate on the Cascadia margin, offshore from the western U.S. and Canada, has been inferred from marine seismic records and pore water chemistry, solid gas hydrate has only been found at one location. At Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 892, offshore from central Oregon, gas hydrate was recovered close to the sediment-water interface at 2–19 m below the seafloor (mbsf) at 670 m water depth. The gas hydrate occurs as elongated platy crystals or crystal aggregates, mostly disseminated irregularly, with higher concentrations occurring in discrete zones, thin layers, and/or veinlets parallel or oblique to the bedding. A 2- to 3-cm thick massive gas hydrate layer, parallel to bedding, was recovered at ∼ 17 mbsf. Gas from a sample of this layer was composed of both CH 4 and H 2 S. This sample is the first mixed-gas hydrate of CH 4 H 2 S documented in ODP; it also contains ethane and minor amounts of CO 2 . Measured temperatures of the recovered core ranged from 2 to −1.8°C and are 6 to 8 degrees lower than in-situ temperatures. These temperature anomalies were caused by the partial dissociation of the CH 4 H 2 S hydrate during recovery without a pressure core sampler.During this dissociation, toxic levels of H 2 S (δ 34 S, +27.4‰) were released. The δ 13 C values of the CH 4 in the gas hydrate, −64.5 to −67.5‰ (PDB) , together with δD values of −197 to −199‰ (SMOW) indicate a primarily microbial source for the CH 4 . The δ 18 O value of the hydrate H 2 O is +2.9‰ (SMOW) , comparable with the experimental fractionation factor for sea-ice. The unusual composition (CH 4 H 2 S) and depth distribution (2–19 mbsf) of this gas hydrate indicate mixing between a methane-rich fluid with a pore fluid enriched in sulfide; at this site the former is advecting along an inclined fault into the active sulfate reduction zone. The facts that the CH 4 H 2 S hydrate is primarily confined to the present day active sulfate reduction zone (2–19 mbsf), and that from here down to the BSR depth (19–68 mbsf) the gas hydrate inferred to exist is a ≥99% CH 4 hydrate, suggest that the mixing of CH 4 and H 2 S is a geologically young process. Because the existence of a mixed CH 4 H 2 S hydrate is indicative of moderate to intense advection of a methane-rich fluid into a near surface active sulfate reduction zone, tectonically active (faulted) margins with organic-rich sediments and moderate to high sedimentation rates are the most likely regions of occurrence. The extension of such a mixed hydrate below the sulfate reduction zone should reflect the time-span of methane advection into the sulfate reduction zone.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters↗
USGS1998

Comparison of offshore and onshore gas occurrences, Eel River basin, northern California

The Eel River basin of northern California is a upper Cenozoic depocenter containing more than 3,000 meters of sedimentary rock located near the Mendocino triple junction. Active tectonism has resulted in folding, faulting and rapid sedimentation. Both thermogenic and microbial hydrocarbons are known to be present in the sediments. In August 1997, we sampled two submarine gas seeps, one at a water depth of 520 m that supports a chemosynthetic-based ecosystem very near an area of previously recovered gas hydrate. Another vent site was sampled in sand covered with white bacterial mats at a water depth 41 m. We compared the hydrocarbon gas composition and methane isotopic composition of these seeps with land-based gas occurrences that include: 1) a gas seep and 2) gas from a 2360 m-deep gas well.

California↗
USGS1995

Methane in coastal sea water, sea ice, and bottom sediments, Beaufort Sea, Alaska

This report summarizes data acquired from 1990 to 1994 for the gas-hydrate portion of the USGS project 'Permafrost and gas hydrate as possible sources of methane' of the USGS Global Change and Climate History program. The objective of this project has been to test the hypothesis that gas hydrate deposits of the Beaufort Sea continental shelf are destabilized by the ~10?C temperature increase that has resulted from the Holocene transgression of the Arctic Ocean. To test this idea we have selected an area off the north coast of Alaska centered on Harrison Bay. We have measured the concentration of methane in surficial sediments, in the water column when ice is present and absent, and in seasonal sea ice. Our results show that more methane is present in the water when ice is present than when ice is absent, and that methane is also present within the ice itself, often at higher concentrations than in the water. Thus the Beaufort Sea shelf of Alaska is a seasonal source of methane. The primary source of this methane has not yet been defined, but gas hydrate is a reasonable candidate.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1993

Gas hydrates from the continental slope, offshore Sakhalin Island, Okhotsk Sea

Ten gas-vent fields were discovered in the Okhotsk Sea on the northeast continental slope offshore from Sakhalin Island in water depths of 620-1040 m. At one vent field, estimated to be more than 250 m across, gas hydrates, containing mainly microbial methane (??13C = -64.3???), were recovered from subbottom depths of 0.3-1.2 m. The sediment, having lenses and bedded layers of gas hydrate, contained 30-40% hydrate per volume of wet sediment. Although gas hydrates were not recovered at other fields, geochemical and thermal measurements suggest that gas hydrates are present. ?? 1993 Springer-Verlag.

Geo-Marine Letters↗
USGS1993

Methane in permafrost - Preliminary results from coring at Fairbanks, Alaska

Permafrost has been suggested as a high-latitude source of methane (a greenhouse gas) during global warming. To begin to assess the magnitude of this source, we have examined the methane content of permafrost in samples from shallow cores (maximum depth, 9.5m) at three sites in Fairbanks, Alaska, where discontinuous permafrost is common. These cores sampled frozen loess, peat, and water (ice) below the active layer. Methane contents of permafrost range from <0.001 to 22.2mg/kg of sample. The highest methane content of 22.2mg/kg was found in association with peat at one site. Silty loess had high methane contents at each site of 6.56, 4.24, and 0.152mg/kg, respectively. Carbon isotopic compositions of the methane (??13C) ranged from -70.8 to -103.9 ???, and hydrogen isotopic compositions of the methane (??D) from -213 to -313 ???, indicating that the methane is microbial in origin. The methane concentrations were used in a one dimensional heat conduction model to predict the amount of methane that will be released from permafrost worldwide over the next 100 years, given two climate change scenarios. Our results indicate that at least 30 years will elapse before melting permafrost releases important amounts of methane; a maximum methane release rate will be about 25 to 30 Tg/yr, assuming that methane is generally distributed in shallow permafrost as observed in our samples.

Conference Paper↗