Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sidescan sonar imagery of widespread fossil and active cold seeps along the central Chilean continental margin

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

Abstract

The central Chilean subduction zone between 35°S and 37°S was investigated in order to identify, document and possibly understand fluid flow and fluid venting within the forearc region. Several areas were mapped using multibeam bathymetry and backscatter, high-resolution sidescan sonar, chirp subbottom profiling and reflection seismic data. On a subsequent cruise ground-truthing observations were made using a video sled. In general, this dataset shows surprisingly little evidence of fluid venting along the mid-slope region, in contrast to other subduction zones such as Central America and New Zealand. There were abundant indications of active and predominantly fossil fluid venting along the upper slope between 36.5°S and 36.8°S at the seaward margin of an intraslope basin. Here, backscatter anomalies suggest widespread authigenic carbonate deposits, likely the result of methane-rich fluid expulsion. There is unpublished evidence that these fluids are of biogenic origin and generated within the slope sediments, similar to other accretionary margins but in contrast to the erosional margin off Central America, where fluids have geochemical signals indicating an origin from the subducting plate.

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

  • Bangs NL, Cande SC (1997) Episodic development of a convergent margin inferred from structures and processes along the southern Chile margin. Tectonics 16:489–503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes PM, Lamarche G, Bialas J, Henrys S, Pecher I, Netzeband GL, Greinert J, Mountjoy JJ, Pedley K, Crutchley G (2010) Tectonic and geological framework for gas hydrates and cold seeps on the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand. Mar Geol 272:26–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behrmann JH (1992) Conditions for hydrofracture and the fluid permeability of accretionary prisms. Earth Plant Sci Lett 107:550–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boetius A, Suess E (2004) Hydrate Ridge: a natural laboratory for the study of microbial life fuelled by methane from near-surface gas hydrates. Chem Geol 205:291–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buerk D, Klaucke I, Sahling H, Weinrebe W (2010) Morpho-acoustic variability of cold seeps on the continental slope offshore Nicaragua: result of fluid flow interaction with sedimentary processes. Mar Geol 275:53–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carson B, Screaton EJ (1998) Fluid flow in accretionary prisms: evidence for focused, time-variable discharge. Rev Geophys 36:329–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crutchley GJ, Geiger S, Pecher IA, Gorman AR, Zhu H, Henrys SA (2010) The potential influence of shallow gas and gas hydrates on sea floor erosion of Rock Garden, an uplifted ridge offshore of New Zealand. Geo-Mar Lett 30:283–303. doi:10.1007/s00367-010-0186-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeMets C, Gordon RG, Argus DF, Stein S (1994) Effect of recent revisions to the geomagnetic reversal time scale on estimates of current plate motions. Geophys Res Lett 21:2191–2194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dugan B, Flemings PB (2000) Overpressure and fluid flow in the New Jersey continental slope: implications for slope failure and cold seeps. Science 289:288–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faure K, Greinert J, Schneider von Deimling J, McGinnis DF, Kipfer R, Linke P (2010) Methane seepage along the Hikurangi Margin of New Zealand: geochemical and physical data from the water column, sea surface and atmosphere. Mar Geol 272:170–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geersen J, Völker D, Krastel-Gudegast S, Diaz J, Weinrebe RW, Behrmann JH (2011) Active tectonics of the South Chilean marine forearc (35°S – 40°S). Tectonics 30:TC3006. doi:10.1029/2010TC002777

  • Greinert J, Bohrmann G, Suess E (2001) Gas hydrate-associated carbonates and methane-venting at Hydrate Ridge: classification, distribution and origin of authigenic lithologies. In: Paull CK, Dillon PW (eds) Natural gas hydrates: occurrence, distribution, and detection. AGU Geophys Monogr 124:99–113

  • Greinert J, Lewis K, Bialas J, Pecher I, Rowden A, Linke P, De Batist M, Bowden D, Suess E (2010) Methane seepage along the Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand: review of studies in 2006 and 2007 and new evidence from visual, bathymetric and hydroacoustic investigations. Mar Geol 272:6–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heeschen KU, Tréhu AM, Collier RW, Suess E, Rehder G (2003) Distribution and height of methane bubble plumes on the Cascadia Margin characterized by acoustic imaging. Geophys Res Lett 30:1643. doi:10.1029/2003GL016974

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry P, Le Pichon X, Lallemant S, Foucher JP, Westbrook GK, Hobart M (1990) Mud volcano field seaward of the Barbados Accretionary Complex: a deep towed sidescan sonar survey. J Geophys Res 95B:8917–8929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry P, Lallemant S, Nakamura K, Tsunogai U, Mazzotti S, Kobayashi K (2002) Surface expression of fluid venting at the toe of the Nankai wedge and implications for flow paths. Mar Geol 187:119–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hensen C, Wallmann K, Schmidt M, Ranero CR, Suess E (2004) Fluid expulsion related to mud extrusion off Costa Rica - a window to the subducting slab. Geology 32:201–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbert MK, Rubey WW (1959) Role of fluid pressure in the mechanics of overthrust faulting. I: mechanics of fluid filled porous solids and its applications to overthrust faulting. Geol Soc Am Bull 70:115–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JE, Goldfinger C, Suess E (2003) Geophysical constraints on the surface distribution of authigenic carbonates across the Hydrate Ridge region, Cascadia margin. Mar Geol 202:79–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiel S (2009) Global hydrocarbon seep-carbonate precipitation correlates with deep-water temperatures and eustatic sea-level fluctuations since the Late Jurassic. Terra Nova 21:279–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klaucke I, Sahling H, Bürk D, Weinrebe RW, Bohrmann G (2005) Mapping deep-water gas emissions with sidescan sonar. Eos 86:341–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klaucke I, Weinrebe RW, Petersen CJ, Bowen DA (2010) Temporal variability of gas seeps offshore New Zealand: multi-frequency geoacoustic imaging of the Wairarapa area, Hikurangi margin. Mar Geol 272:49–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kobayashi K (2002) Tectonic significance of the cold seepage zones in the Eastern Nankai Accretionary Wedge: an outcome of the 15 years’ KAIKO projects. Mar Geol 187:3–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kukowski N, Oncken O (2006) Subduction erosion—The “normal” mode of fore-arc material transfer along the Chilean Margin? In: Oncken O, Chong G, Franz G, Giese F, Götze H-J, Ramos VA, Strecker ME, Wigger P (eds) The Andes: active subduction orogeny. Springer, Berlin, pp 217–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Bas TP, Mason DC, Millard NW (1995) TOBI image processing - the state of the art. IEEE J Ocean Eng 20:85–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liebetrau V, Eisenhauer A, Linke P (2010) Cold seep carbonates and associated cold-water corals at the Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand: new insights into fluid pathways, growth structures and geochronology. Mar Geol 272:307–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luff R, Wallmann K (2003) Fluid flow, methane fluxes, carbonate precipitation and biogeochemical turnover in gas hydrate-bearing sediments at Hydrate Ridge, Cascadia margin: numerical modelling and mass balances. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 67:3403–3421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mau S, Sahling H, Rehder G, Suess E, Linke P, Soeding E (2006) Estimates of methane output from mud extrusions at the erosive convergent margin off Costa Rica. Mar Geol 225:129–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melnick D, Echtler HP (2006) Inversion of forearc basins in south-central Chile caused by rapid glacial age trench fill. Geology 34:709–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller SA (2002) Properties of large ruptures and the dynamical influence of fluids on earthquakes and faulting. J Geophys Res 107(B9):2182. doi:10.1029/2000JB00003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore JC, Vrolijk P (1992) Fluids in accretionary prisms. Rev Geophys 30:113–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paull CK, Hecker B, Commeau R, Freeman-Lynde RP, Neumann C, Corso WP, Golubic S, Hook JE, Sikes E, Curray J (1984) Biological communities at the Florida escarpment resemble hydrothermal vent taxa. Science 226:965–967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranero CR, Grevemeyer I, Sahling H, Barckhausen U, Hensen C, Wallmann K, Weinrebe RW, Vannucchi P, von Huene R, McIntosh K (2008) The hydrogeological system of erosional convergent margins and its influence on tectonics and interplate seismogenesis. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 9:Q03S04. doi:10.1029/2007GC001679

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riedel M, Novosel I, Spence GD, Hyndman RD, Chapman NR, Solem RC, Lewis T (2006) Geophysical and geochemical signatures associated with gas hydrate related venting at the north Cascadia margin. Geol Soc Am Bull 118:23–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sahling H, Masson DG, Ranero CR, Hühnerbach V, Weinrebe RW, Klaucke I, Bürk D, Brückmann W, Suess E (2008) Fluid seepage at the continental margin off Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 9:Q05S05. doi:10.1029/2008GC001978

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sellanes J, Quiroga E, Neira C (2008) Megafaunal community structure and trophic relationships of the recently discovered Concepcion Methane Seep Area (Chile, 36°S). ICES J Mar Sci 65:1102–1111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sellanes J, Neira C, Quiroga E, Teixido N (2010) Diversity patterns along and across the Chilean margin: a continental slope encompassing oxygen gradients and methane seep benthic habitats. Mar Ecol 31:111–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sommer S, Linke P, Pfannkuche O, Niemann H, Treude T (2010) Benthic respiration in a seep habitat dominated by dense beds of ampharetid polychaetes at the Hikurangi Margin (New Zealand). Mar Geol 272:223–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sultan N, Cochonat P, Canals M, Cattaneo A, Dennielou B, Haflidason H, Laberg JS, Long D, Mienert J, Trincardi F (2004) Triggering mechanisms of slope instability processes and sediment failures on continental margins: a geotechnical approach. Mar Geol 213:291–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teichert BMA, Eisenhauer A, Bohrmann G, Haase-Schramm A, Bock B, Linke P (2003) U/Th systematics and ages of authigenic carbonates from Hydrate Ridge, Cascadia Margin: recorders of fluid flow variations. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 67:3845–3857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teichert BMA, Bohrmann G, Suess E (2005) Chemoherms on Hydrate Ridge - unique microbially-mediated carbonate build-ups growing into the water column. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 227:67–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornburg TM, Kulm LD, Hussong DM (1990) Submarine-fan development in the southern Chile Trench: a dynamic interplay of tectonics and sedimentation. Geol Soc Am Bull 102:1658–1680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres ME, McManus J, Hammond DE, de Angelis MA, Heeschen KU, Colbert SL, Tryon MD, Brown KM, Suess E (2002) Fluid and chemical fluxes in and out of sediments hosting methane hydrate deposits on Hydrate Ridge, OR, I: hydrological provinces. Earth Planet Sci Lett 201:525–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Cruise JC23 of RRS James Cook has been made possible through the OFEG barter programme. Cruise SO210 of RV Sonne was conducted by ship time exchange with RV Meteor. We would like to thank the captains, officers and crews of both vessels for their help and great professionalism at sea. Reviews by T. Lorenson and G. Westbrook helped improving the manuscript. This is contribution 221 of the Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB) 574 “Volatiles and fluids in subduction zones” at Kiel University. SFB 574 is financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. GEOMAR | Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Wischhofstrasse 1-3, 24148, Kiel, Germany

    Ingo Klaucke, Wilhelm Weinrebe, Peter Linke, Dirk Kläschen & Jörg Bialas

Authors
  1. Ingo Klaucke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wilhelm Weinrebe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Peter Linke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dirk Kläschen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jörg Bialas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ingo Klaucke.

Additional information

Responsible guest editors: M. De Batist and O. Khlystov

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Klaucke, I., Weinrebe, W., Linke, P. et al. Sidescan sonar imagery of widespread fossil and active cold seeps along the central Chilean continental margin. Geo-Mar Lett 32, 489–499 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-012-0283-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-012-0283-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation