Eruption of a deep-sea mud volcano triggers rapid sediment movement
| Autor: | Tomas Feseker, Dirk de Beer, Antje Boetius, Christopher R. German, Richard Camilli, Frank Wenzhöfer, Dana R. Yoerger, Karine Olu, Jerome Blandin |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Multidisciplinary
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences General Physics and Astronomy Sediment General Chemistry 010502 geochemistry & geophysics 01 natural sciences Deep sea General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Seafloor spreading Article Oceanography Water column 13. Climate action Benthic zone Bathymetry 14. Life underwater Geology Seabed 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Mud volcano |
| Zdroj: | Nature Communications, 5 (5385). Nature Communications (2041-1723) (Nature Publishing Group), 2014-11-11, Vol. 5, P. 1-8 Nature Communications |
| Popis: | Submarine mud volcanoes are important sources of methane to the water column. However, the temporal variability of their mud and methane emissions is unknown. Methane emissions were previously proposed to result from a dynamic equilibrium between upward migration and consumption at the seabed by methane-consuming microbes. Here we show non-steady-state situations of vigorous mud movement that are revealed through variations in fluid flow, seabed temperature and seafloor bathymetry. Time series data for pressure, temperature, pH and seafloor photography were collected over 431 days using a benthic observatory at the active Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano. We documented 25 pulses of hot subsurface fluids, accompanied by eruptions that changed the landscape of the mud volcano. Four major events triggered rapid sediment uplift of more than a metre in height, substantial lateral flow of muds at average velocities of 0.4 m per day, and significant emissions of methane and CO2 from the seafloor. Submarine mud volcanoes are difficult to observe from the sea surface and previous recordings at depth have been short term. Here, the authors provide the first long-term monitoring from Håkon Mosby and suggest that mud volcanoes may be more important to the global methane budget than previously thought. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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