Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Variability of gas composition and flux intensity in natural marine hydrocarbon seeps

  • Original
  • Published:
Geo-Marine Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 05 March 2010

Abstract

The relationship between surface bubble composition and gas flux to the atmosphere was examined at five large seeps from the Coal Oil Point seep field (Santa Barbara Channel, CA, USA). The field research was conducted using a flux buoy designed to simultaneously measure the surface bubbling gas flux and the buoy’s position with differential GPS, and to collect gas samples. Results show that the flux from the five seeps surveyed a total of 11 times ranged from 800–5,500 m3 day−1. The spatial distribution of flux from the five seeps was well described by two lognormal distributions fitted to two flux ranges. The seafloor and sea surface composition of bubbles differed, with the seafloor bubbles containing significantly more CO2 (3–25%) and less air (N2 and O2). At the sea surface, the mole fraction of N2 correlated directly with O2 (R 2 = 0.95) and inversely with CH4 (R 2 = 0.97); the CO2 content was reduced to the detection limit (<0.1%). These data demonstrate that the bubble composition is modified by gas exchange during ascent: dissolved air enters, and CO2 and hydrocarbon gases leave the bubbles. The mean surface composition at the five seeps varied with water depth and gas flux, with more CH4 and higher CH4/N2 ratios found in shallower seeps with higher flux. It is suggested that the CH4/N2 ratio is a good proxy for total or integrated gas loss from the rising bubbles, although additional study is needed before this ratio can be used quantitatively.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen AA, Schlueter RS, Mikolaj PG (1970) Natural oil seepage at coal oil point, Santa Barbara, California. Science 170:974–977

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boles JR, Clark JF, Leifer I, Washburn L (2001) Temporal variation in natural methane seep rate due to tides, Coal Oil Point area, California. J Geophys Res 106:27,077–27,086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark JF, Washburn L, Hornafius JS, Luyendyk BP (2000) Dissolved hydrocarbon flux from natural marine seeps to the southern California Bight. J Geophys Res 105:11,509–11,522

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark JF, Leifer I, Washburn L, Luyendyk BP (2003) Compositional changes in natural gas bubble plumes: observations from the Coal Oil Point marine hydrocarbon seep field. In: Woodside JM, Garrison RE, Moore JC, Kvenvolden KA (eds) Proc 7th Int Conf Gas in Marine Sediments, 7–12 October 2002, Baku, Azerbaijan. Geo-Mar Lett SI 23(3/4):187–193. doi:10.1007/s00367-003-0137-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cynar FJ, Yayanos AA (1992) The distribution of methane in the upper waters of the Southern California Bight. J Geophys Res 97:11,269–11,285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Sontro TS, Leifer I, Luyendyk BP, Broitman BR (2007) Beach tar accumulation, transport mechanisms, and sources of variability at Coal Oil Point, California. Mar Pollut Bull 54:1461–1471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egland ET (2000) Direct capture of gaseous emissions from natural marine hydrocarbon seeps offshore of Coal Oil Point, Santa Barbara, California. MSc Thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

  • Emerson S (1975) Chemically enhanced CO2 gas exchange in a eutrophic lake: a general model. Limnol Oceanogr 20:743–753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes JE, Crippen RE, Star JL (1985) Natural oil seep detection in the Santa Barbara Channel, California, with shuttle imaging radar. Geology 13:282–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farwell C, Reddy CW, Peacock E, Nelson RK, Washburn L, Valentine DL (2009) Weathering and the fallout plume of heavy oil from strong petroleum seeps near Coal Oil Point, CA. Environ Sci Technol 43:3542–3548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer PJ (1978) Oil and tar seeps, Santa Barbara basin, California. In: California offshore gas, oil, and tar seeps, California State Lands Commission, Sacramento, CA, pp 1–62

  • Hornafius JS, Quigley D, Luyendyk BP (1999) The world’s most spectacular marine hydrocarbon seeps (Coal Oil Point, Santa Barbara Channel, California): quantification of emissions. J Geophys Res 104:20,703–20,711

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Judd A, Hovland M (2007) Seabed fluid flow. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Killus JP, Moore GE (1991) Factor analysis of hydrocarbon species in the south-central coast air basin. J Appl Meteorol 30:733–743

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinnaman FS, Kimball J, Busso L, Birgel D, Ding H, Hinrichs K-U, Valentine DL (2010) Gas flux and carbonate occurrence at a shallow seep of thermogenic natural gas. In: Bohrmann G, Jørgensen BB (eds) Proc 9th Int Conf Gas in Marine Sediments, 15–19 September 2008, Bremen. Geo-Mar Lett SI 30 (in press)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leifer I, Boles JR (2005) Turbine tent measurements of marine hydrocarbon seeps on subhourly timescales. J Geophys Res 110:C01006. doi:10.1029/2003JC002207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leifer I, Culling D (2010) Bubbles from marine hydrocarbon seepage in the Coal Oil Point seep field. In: Bohrmann G, Jørgensen BB (eds) Proc 9th Int Conf Gas in Marine Sediments, 15–19 September 2008, Bremen. Geo-Mar Lett SI 30 (in press)

  • Leifer I, MacDonald I (2003) Dynamics of the gas flux from shallow gas hydrate deposits: interaction between oily hydrate bubbles and the ocean environment. Earth Panetary Sci Lett 210:411–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leifer I, Clark JF, Chen RF (2000) Modifications of the local environment by natural marine hydrocarbon seeps. Geophys Res Lett 27:3711–3714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leifer I, Boles JR, Luyendyk BP, Clark JF (2004) Transient discharges from marine hydrocarbon seeps: spatial and temporal variability. Environ Geol 46:1038–1052

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leifer I, Luyendyk BP, Boles JR, Clark JF (2006) Natural marine seepage blowout: contribution to atmospheric methane. Global Biogeochem Cycles 20, GB3008. doi:10.1029/2005GB002668

  • Leifer I, Kamerling MJ, Luyendyk BP, Wilson DS (2010) Geologic control of natural marine seep hydrocarbon emissions, Coal Oil Point seep field, California. In: Bohrmann G, Jørgensen BB (eds) Proc 9th Int Conf Gas in Marine Sediments, 15–19 September 2008, Bremen. Geo-Mar Lett SI 30 (in press)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mau S, Valentine DL, Clark JF, Reed J, Camilli R, Washburn L (2007) Dissolved methane distributions and air-sea flux in the plume of a massive seep field, Coal Oil Point, California. Geophys Res Lett 34:L22603. doi:10.1029/2007GL031344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mau S, Heintz MB, Kinnaman FS, Valentine DL (2010) Compositional variability and air-sea flux of ethane and propane in the plume of a large, marine seep field near Coal Oil Point, CA. In: Bohrmann G, Jørgensen BB (eds) Proc 9th Int Conf Gas in Marine Sediments, 15–19 September 2008, Bremen. Geo-Mar Lett SI 30 (in press)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDougal TJ (1978) Bubble plumes in stratified environments. J Fluid Mech 4:655–672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hara SCM, Dando PR, Schuster U, Bennis A, Boyle JD, Chui FTW, Hatherell TVJ, Niven SJ, Taylor LJ (1995) Gas seep induced interstitial circulation: observations and environmental implicates. Cont Shelf Res 15:931–948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quigley DC, Hornafius JS, Luyendyk BP, Francis RD, Clark J, Washburn L (1999) Decrease in natural marine hydrocarbon seepage near Coal Oil Point, California, associated with offshore oil production. Geology 27:1047–1050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reeburgh WS (2003) Global methane biogeochemistry. In: Keeling R (ed) Treatise on Geochemistry, vol 4. The Atmosphere. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 65–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeburgh WS (2007) Oceanic methane biogeochemistry. Chem Rev 107:486–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schladow SG (1992) Bubble plume dynamics in a stratified medium and the implications for water-quality amelioration in lakes. Water Resources Res 28:313–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwager K (2005) Surface gas flux and chemical composition of marine hydrocarbon seeps at Coal Oil Point, California. MSc Thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

  • Washburn L, Johnson CG, Gotschalk CC, Egland ET (2001) A gas-capture buoy for measuring bubbling gas flux in oceans and lakes. J Atmos Ocean Technol 18:1411–1420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Washburn L, Clark JF, Kyriakidis P (2005) The spatial scales, distribution, and intensity of natural marine hydrocarbon seeps near Coal Oil Point, California. Mar Petrol Geol 22:569–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y (2003) Methane escape from gas hydrate systems in marine environment and methane-driven oceanic eruptions. Geophys Res Lett 30:1398. doi:10.1029/2002GL016658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmermann S, Hughes RG, Flügel HJ (1997) The effect of methane seepage on the spatial distribution of oxygen and dissolved sulphide within a muddy sediment. Mar Geol 137:149–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the University of California Energy Institute and the West Coast NURP program under ward No. NA03OAR4300104, subcontract UAF-05-0140 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce. The fieldwork was conducted with the help of Shane Anderson, David Farrar, and David Salazar. The gas analyses were conducted in the laboratory of Dr. David Valentine at UCSB with the assistance of Dr. Frank Kinnaman. The manuscript benefited from the careful reviews of Dr. Erwin Suess and an anonymous reviewer. Thanks also to the crew of the R/V Velero and the Delta submarine. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA, the Department of Commerce, or the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Jordan F. Clark & Katherine Schwager Emery

  2. Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Libe Washburn & Katherine Schwager Emery

  3. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Katherine Schwager Emery

Authors
  1. Jordan F. Clark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Libe Washburn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Katherine Schwager Emery
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jordan F. Clark.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00367-010-0202-2

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Clark, J.F., Washburn, L. & Schwager Emery, K. Variability of gas composition and flux intensity in natural marine hydrocarbon seeps. Geo-Mar Lett 30, 379–388 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-009-0167-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-009-0167-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation