Abstract
Large deep-sea fans are useful settings to study gas hydrate systems, the rapid burial of organic-rich sediment driving linked processes of gas generation, fluid expulsion and syn-sedimentary tectonism. The Nile deep-sea fan (100,000 km2) is a collapsing Late Cenozoic depocentre that is both a hydrocarbon province and an area of widespread seafloor fluid seepage. Evidence for gas hydrates has been reported in this area, but remains poorly documented. Available seismic and well data are used together with information on seafloor features to characterise a deep-water (1500–2700 m) gas hydrate system in the central Nile fan. The system is in part expressed as a bottom simulating reflection (BSR) discontinuously observed across a relatively small area (6000 km2), both cross-cutting the stratified fill of fault-bound slope basins, and upslope of the basins within thick unstratified mass transport deposits. West of the BSR area, log data from two wells 45 km apart indicate the presence of gas hydrates in intervals up to 75 m thick near the base of the stability zone. Gas hydrates are also likely to be present near the seafloor within hundreds of pockmark-like mounds that record gas venting through the stability zone, most observed west of the BSR area. The central Nile fan thus contains a gas hydrate system expressed as two areas of comparable size, one with a discontinuous BSR but few seafloor gas vents, another lacking a BSR but with downhole evidence of gas hydrates and abundant gas venting. This heterogenous character is suggested to reflect spatial variations in fluid expulsion from the Nile fan, which can inhibit BSR formation while favouring gas hydrate accumulation over wide areas. This possibility has implications for other large deep-sea fans, many of which have restricted BSRs but may contain more extensive gas hydrate systems.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdel AA, El Barkooky A, Gerrits M et al (2000) Tectonic evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean Basin and its significance for hydrocarbon prospectivity in the ultradeepwater of the Nile Delta. Lead Edge 19(10):1041–1152. https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1438485
Abdel AA, El Barkooky A, Gerrits M et al (2001) Tectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean basin and its significance for the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Nile Delta deepwater area. GeoArabia 6(3):363–384. https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geoarabia/article-pdf/6/3/363/4564261/aal.pdf
Bayon G, Loncke L, Dupré S et al (2009) Multi-disciplinary investigation of fluid seepage on an unstable margin: the case of the Central Nile Deep Sea Fan. Mar Geol 261:92–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2008.10.00
Bayon G, Henderson GM, Bohn M (2009) U-Th stratigraphy of a cold seep carbonate crust. Chem Geol 260:47–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2008.11.020
Caméra L, Ribodetti A, Mascle J (2010) Deep structures and seismic stratigraphy of the Egyptian continental margin from multichannel seismic data. Geol Soc, London, Special Publication 341(1):85–97. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP341.5
Dano A, Praeg D, Migeon S et al (2014) Fluid seepage in relation to seafloor deformation on the central Nile Deep-Sea Fan, part 1: evidence from sidescan sonar data. In: Krastel S et al (eds) Submarine mass movements and their consequences. 6th international symposium. Springer International, Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research 37:129–139. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00972-8_12
Dolson JC, Boucher PJ, Siok J et al (2005) Key challenges to realizing full potential in an emerging giant gas province: Nile Delta/Mediterranean offshore, deep water, Egypt. In: Doré AG, Vining BA (eds) Petroleum geology: north-West Europe and global perspectives. Proceedings of the 6th petroleum geology conference, geological society, London, pp 607–624
Dupré S, Woodside J, Klaucke I et al (2010) Widespread active seepage activity on the Nile Deep Sea Fan (offshore Egypt) revealed by high-definition geophysical imagery. Mar Geol 275(1–4):1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2010.04.003
Finetti I, Morelli C (1973) Geophysical exploration of the Mediterranean Sea. Bollettino Di Geofisica Teorica Ed Applicata 15:263–341
Gennesseaux M, Burollet P, Winnock E (1998) Thickness of the Plio-Quaternary sediments (IBCM-PQ). Bolletino Di Geofisica Teorica Ed Applicata 39(4):243–284
Gontharet S, Pierre C, Blanc-Valleron MM et al (2007) Nature and origin of the diagenetic carbonate crusts and concretions from mud volcanoes and pockmarks of the Nile deep-sea fan (eastern Mediterranean sea). Deep-Sea Res II 54:1291–1316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.04.007
Gornitz V, Fung I (1994) Potential distribution of methane hydrates in the world’s oceans. Global Biogeochem Cy 8(3):335–347. https://doi.org/10.1029/94GB00766
Haacke RR, Westbrook GK, Hyndman RD (2007) Gas hydrate, fluid flow and free-gas: formation of the bottom-simulating reflector. Earth Planet Sci Lett 261:407–420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2007.07.008
Haacke RR, Hyndman RD, Park K-P et al (2009) Migration and venting of deep gases into the ocean through hydrate-choked chimneys offshore Korea. Geology 37:531–534. https://doi.org/10.1130/G25681A.1
Hillman JIT, Cook AE, Sawyer DE et al (2017) The character and amplitude of ‘discontinuous’ bottom-simulating reflections in marine seismic data. Earth Planet Sci Lett 459:157–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.10.058
Hornbach MJ, Bangs NL, Berndt C (2012) Detecting hydrate and fluid flow from bottom simulating reflector depth anomalies. Geology 40(3):227–230. https://doi.org/10.1130/G32635
Hovland M, Gallagher W, Clennell MB et al (1997) Gas hydrate and free gas volumes in marine sediments: Example from the Niger Delta. Mar Pet Geol 14(3):245–255
Keggin J, Benson M, Rietveld W et al (2007) Multi-azimuth 3D provides robust improvements in Nile Delta seismic imaging. First Break 25(3):47–53. https://doi.org/10.3997/1365-2397.2007008
Ketzer JM, Augustin A, Rodriques F et al (2018) Gas seeps and gas hydrates in the Amazon deep-sea fan. Geo-Mar Lett 38(5):429–438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-018-0546-6
Leithold EL, Blair NE, Wegmann KW (2016) Source-to-sink sedimentary systems and global carbon burial: a river runs through it. Earth Sci Rev 153:30–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.10.011
Liu X, Flemings PB (2007) Dynamic multiphase flow model of hydrate formation in marine sediments. J Geophys Res 112:B03101. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JB004227
Loher M, Marcon Y, Pape T et al (2018) Seafloor sealing, doming and collapse associated with gas seeps and authigenic carbonate structures at Venere mud volcano, Central Mediterranean. Deep-Sea Res Part 1 137:76–96.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2018.04.006
Loncke L, Gaullier V, Bellaiche G et al (2002) Recent depositional pattern of the NDSF from echo-character mapping. Interactions between turbidity currents, mass-wasting processes and tectonics. AAPG Bulletin 86:1165–1186
Loncke L, Mascle J, Parties FS (2004) Mud volcanoes, gas chimneys, pockmarks and mounds in the Nile deep-sea fan (Eastern Mediterranean): geophysical evidences. Mar Pet Geol 21(6):669–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2004.02.004
Loncke L, Gaullier V, Mascle J et al (2006) The Nile deep-sea fan: an example of interacting sedimentation, salt tectonics, and inherited subsalt paleotopographic features. Mar Pet Geol 23:297–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2006.01.001
Loncke L, Gaullier V, Droz L et al (2009) Multi-scale slope instabilities along the Nile deep-sea fan, Egyptian margin: a general overview. Mar Pet Geol 26(5):633–646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2008.03.010
Lykousis V, Alexandri S, Woodside J et al (2009) Mud volcanoes and gas hydrates in the Anaximander mountains (Eastern Mediterranean Sea). Mar Pet Geol 26(6):854–872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2008.05.002
Majumdar U, Cook AE, Shedd W et al (2016) The connection between natural gas hydrate and bottom-simulating reflectors. Geophys Res Lett 43:7044–7051. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069443
Mascle J, Loncke L, Caméra L (2005) Geophysical evidences of fluid seepages and mud volcanoes on the Egyptian continental margin (Eastern Mediterranean). Bollettino Della Società Geologica Italiana, Volume Speciale 4:127–134
Mascle J, Mascle G (2012) Geological and morpho-tectonic map of the mediterranean domain, 1st edition. Commission for the Geological Map of the World, CGMW/UNESCO, Paris
Merey Ş, Longinos SN (2018) Numerical simulations of gas production from Class 1 hydrate and Class 3 hydrate in the Nile Delta of the Mediterranean Sea. J Nat Gas Sci Eng 52:248–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2018.01.001
Migeon S, Ceramicola S, Praeg D et al (2014) Post-failure processes on the continental slope of the Central Nile Deep-Sea Fan: interactions between fluid seepage, creeping and sediment wave construction. In: Krastel S et al (eds) Submarine mass movements and their consequences. 6th international symposium. Springer International. Adv Nat Technol Hazards Res 37(11):117–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00972-8_11
Minshull TA, Marín-Moreno H, Betlem P et al (2020) Hydrate occurrence in Europe: a review of available evidence. Mar Pet Geol 111:735–764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.08.014
Morley CK, King R, Hillis R et al (2011) Deepwater fold and thrust belt classification, tectonics, structure and hydrocarbon prospectivity: a review. Earth Sci Rev 104:41–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.09.010
Morley CK, Warren J, Tingay M et al (2014) Comparison of modern fluid distribution, pressure and flow in sediments associated with anticlines growing in deepwater (Brunei) and continental environments (Iran). Mar Pet Geol 51:210–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.11.011
Nashaat M (1998) Abnormally high fluid pressure and seal impacts on hydrocarbon accumulations in the Nile Delta and North Sinai Basins, Egypt. In: Law BE, Ulmishek GF, Slavin VI (eds) Abnormal pressures in hydrocarbon environments. AAPG Memoir 70:161–180
Newton CS (2006) Importance of mass transport complexes in the development of the central and western quaternary Nile Fan. Unpublished MSc thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, p 122
Nimblett JN, Shipp RC, Strijbos F (2005) Gas hydrate as a drilling hazard: examples from global deepwater settings. Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, USA. OTC 17476, p 7. https://doi.org/10.4043/17476-MS
Nott JA, Gibson JL, Shipp RC (2001) Near-surface depositional framework of the northeastern Mediterranean (NEMED) concession area, deepwater Egypt. AAPG Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, USA; AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906. http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/abstracts/html/2001/annual/abstracts/0570.htm
Omeru T, Cartwright JA (2015) Multistage, progressive slope failure in the Pleistocene pro-deltaic slope of the West Nile Delta (Eastern Mediterranean). Mar Geol 362:76–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.01.012
Pape T, Kasten S, Zabel M et al (2010) Gas hydrates in shallow deposits of the Amsterdam mud volcano, Anaximander Mountains, Northeastern Mediterranean Sea. Geo-Mar Lett 30:187–206. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-010-0197-8
Praeg D, Geletti R, Mascle et al (2008) Geophysical exploration for gas hydrates in the Mediterranean Sea and a bottom-simulating reflection on the Nile Fan. Gruppo Nazionale di Geofisica della Terra Solida, GNGTS 27° Convegno Nazionale, Trieste, Italy. Riassunti Estesi, pp 467–469. http://www3.ogs.trieste.it/gngts/files/2008/S32/Riassunti/32-prae.pdf
Praeg D, Geletti R, Wardell N et al (2011) The Mediterranean Sea: a natural laboratory to study gas hydrate dynamics? In: Proceedings of the 7th international conference on gas hydrates (ICGH7 2011), Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 17–21 July 2011; Full Paper 00322, p 8. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03315746
Praeg D, Ketzer JM, Augustin AH et al (2014) Fluid seepage in relation to seabed deformation on the central Nile Deep-Sea Fan, part 2: evidence from multibeam and sidescan imagery. In: S. Krastel et al (eds) Submarine mass movements and their consequences, 6th international symposium. Springer International. Adv Nat Technol Hazards Res 37:141–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00972-8_13
Praeg D, Migeon S, Dano A et al (2020) Positive-relief carbonate pavements on the central Nile deep-sea fan: gas hydrate blisters or carbonate-filled pockmarks? Pockmarks et Ecosystèmes Benthiques, Société Géologique de France, Paris. Livre des Résumés, p 6. https://sgf-pockmarks.sciencesconf.org/browse/speaker?authorid=786882
Prinzhofer A, Deville E (2013) Origins of hydrocarbon gas seeping out from offshore mud volcanoes in the Nile delta. Tectonophysics 591:52–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2011.06.028
Riboulet V, Sultan N, Imber P et al (2016) Initiation of gas-hydrate pockmark in deep-water Nigeria: geo-mechanical analysis and modelling. Earth Planet Sci Lett 434:252–263. j.epsl.2015.11.047
Riedel M, Tréhu AM, Spence GD (2010) Characterizing the thermal regime of cold vents at the northern Cascadia margin from bottom-simulating reflector distributions, heat-probe measurements and borehole temperature data. Mar Geophys Res 31:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-010-9080-2
Römer M, Sahling H, Pape T et al (2014) Methane fluxes and carbonate deposits at a cold seep area of the Central Nile Deep Sea Fan, Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Mar Geol 347:27–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2013.10.011
Rowan MG, Peel FJ, Vendeville BC (2004) Gravity-driven fold-belts on passive margins. In: McKay KR (ed) Thrust tectonics and hydrocarbon systems. AAPG Memoir 82:157–182
Sharaf El Din H (2006) Recent exploration of methane hydrate on the continental shelf of Egyptian Mediterranean coast. In: 5th international workshop on methane hydrate research & development, 9–12 October, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Sharaf El Din SH, Nassar M (2010) Gas hydrates over the Egyptian Mediterranean coastal waters. European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna Austria; Geophysical Research Abstracts 12:EGU2010–78. https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2010/EGU2010-78.pdf
Shedd W, Boswell R, Frye M et al (2012) Occurrence and nature of “bottom simulating reflectors” in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Mar Pet Geol 34(1):31–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.08.005
Sultan N, Marsset B, Ker S et al (2010) Hydrate dissolution as a potential mechanism for pockmark formation in the Niger delta. J Geophys Res 115:B08101. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JB007453
Tassy A, Crouzy E, Gorini C et al (2015) Egyptian Tethyan margin in the Mesozoic: evolution of a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic shelf edge (from Western Desert to Sinai). Mar Pet Geol 8:565–581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.10.011
Tayber Z, Meilijson A, Ben-Avraham Z et al (2019) Methane hydrate stability and potential resource in the Levant basin, southeastern Mediterranean Sea. Geosciences 9(7):306. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9070306
Vandré C, Cramer B, Gerling P et al (2007) Natural gas formation in the western Nile delta (Eastern Mediterranean): thermogenic versus microbial. Organ Geochem 38:523–539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2006.12.006
Wu S, Wang X, Wong HK et al (2007) Low-amplitude BSRs and gas hydrate concentration on the northern margin of the South China Sea. Mar Geophys Res 28:127–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-007-9020-y
Acknowledgements
D.P. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 656821.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Praeg, D., Migeon, S., Mascle, J., Unnithan, V., Ketzer, M. (2022). A Gas Hydrate System of Heterogeneous Character in the Nile Deep-Sea Fan. In: Mienert, J., Berndt, C., Tréhu, A.M., Camerlenghi, A., Liu, CS. (eds) World Atlas of Submarine Gas Hydrates in Continental Margins. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81186-0_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81186-0_37
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-81185-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-81186-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)