Abstract
Pockmarks consists of depressions on the seafloor and are often considered to originate from fluid escape activities. In this study, we report 125 pockmarks near the Andu Seamount in the southern margin of the South China Sea (SCS) and preliminarily investigate their genesis based on multi-beam bathymetry and multichannel seismic reflection data. Most of them are giant and mega pockmarks and display circular, elliptical, elongated, crescent, comet and irregular shapes on a plan-view. The mapped pockmarks cover a total surface of 291.354 km2. Most of them occur in strings or clusters, while some are isolated. The filled volume of pockmark is calculated for the first time in this region, which may have significant implications for sedimentary process. Beneath most of the pockmarks, high-angle faults, high-amplitude reflections, filled-up structures and other fluid escape features are imaged on seismic sections. The structural settings, especially the fault systems, may control the genesis and development of pockmarks in this area. We also speculate that seabed gradients may contribute to generation of crescent pockmarks. According to seismic sections, sediment types and morphological analysis, we finally proposed that the genesis of these pockmarks may mainly be triggered by gas escape activities in the study area. This work may have important implications for the gas exploration in the Nansha Region, southern South China Sea.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bai Y, Song HB, Guan YX, Chen JX, Liu BR (2014) Structural characteristics and genesis of pockmarks in the northwest of the South China Sea derived from reflective seismic and multibeam data. Chin J Geophys 57:2208–2222. https://doi.org/10.6038/cjg20140716 (in Chinese)
Cathles LM, Su Z, Chen DF (2010) The physics of gas chimney and pockmark formation, with implications for assessment of seafloor hazards and gas sequestration. Mar Pet Geol 27:82–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.09.010
Chen JX, Song HB, Guan YX, Yang SX, Pinheiro LM, Bai Y, Liu BR, Geng MH (2015) Morphologies, classification and genesis of pockmarks, mud volcanoes and associated fluid escape features in the northern Zhongjiannan Basin, South China Sea. Deep-Sea Res II 122:106–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.11.007
Chen SC, Hsu SK, Tsai CH, Ku CY, Yeh YC, Wang Y (2010) Gas seepage, pockmarks and mud volcanoes in the near shore of SW Taiwan. Mar Geophys Res 31:133–147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-010-9097-6
Çifçi G, Dondurur D, Ergün M (2003) Deep and shallow structures of large pockmarks in the Turkish shelf, Eastern Black Sea. Geo-Mar Lett 23:311–322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-003-0138-x
Cullen A (2014) Nature and significance of the West Baram and Tinjar lines, NW Borneo. Mar Pet Geol 51:197–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.11.010
Dandapath S, Chakraborty B, Karisiddaiah SM, Menezes A, Ranade G, Fernandes W, Naik DK, Raju KP (2010) Morphology of pockmarks along the western continental margin of India: employing multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data. Mar Pet Geol 27:2107–2117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.09.005
Duarte JC, Terrinha P, Rosas FM, Valadares V, Pinheiro LM, Matias L, Magalhães V, Roque C (2010) Crescent-shaped morphotectonic features in the Gulf of Cadiz (offshore SW Iberia). Mar Geol 271(3–4):236–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2010.02.017
Di PF, Huang HG, Huang BJ, He JX, Chen DF (2012) Seabed pockmark formation associated with mud diapir development and fluid activities in the Yinggehai basin of the South China Sea. J Trop Oceanogr 31:26–36. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1009-5470.2012.05.005 (in Chinese)
Gay A, Lopez M, Cochonat P, Séranne M, Levaché D, Sermondadaz G (2006) Isolated seafloor pockmarks linked to BSRs, fluid chimneys, polygonal faults and stacked Oligocene–Miocene turbiditic palaeochannels in the Lower Congo Basin. Mar Geol 226:25–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2005.09.018
He Y, Zhong G, Wang L, Kuang Z (2014) Characteristics and occurrence of submarine canyon-associated landslides in the middle of the northern continental slope, South China Sea. Mar Pet Geol 57:546–560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.07.003
Hovland M, Heggland R, De Vries MH, Tjelta TI (2010) Unit-pockmarks and their potential significance for predicting fluid flow. Mar Pet Geol 27:1190–1199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.02.005
Hovland M, Svensen H, Forsberg CF, Johansen H, Fichler C, Fosså JH, Jonsson R, Rueslåtten H (2005) Complex pockmarks with carbonate-ridges off mid-Norway: products of sediment degassing. Mar Geol 218:191–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2005.04.005
Hovland M, Talbot MR, Quale H, Olaussen S, Aasberg L (1987) Methane-related carbonate cements in pockmarks of the North Sea. J Sediment Res 57:881–892. https://doi.org/10.1306/212f8c92-2b24-11d7-8648000102c1865d
Hustoft S, Bünz S, Mienert J (2010) Three-dimensional seismic analysis of the morphology and spatial distribution of chimneys beneath the Nyegga pockmark field, offshore mid‐Norway. Basin Res 22:465–480. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2010.00486.x
Judd AG, Hovland M (2007) Seabed pockmarks and seepages: impact on geology, biology and the marine environment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511535918
Kelley JT, Dickson SM, Belknap DF, Barnhardt WA, Henderson M (1994). Giant sea-bed pockmarks: evidence for gas escape from Belfast Bay, Mar Geol 22:59–62
King LH, MacLean B (1970) Pockmarks on the Scotian shelf. Geol Soc Am Bull 81:3141–3148. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1970)81[3141:potss]2.0.co;2
Koša E (2015) Sea-level changes, shoreline journeys, and the seismic stratigraphy of Central Luconia, Miocene-present, offshore Sarawak, NW Borneo. Mar Pet Geol 59:35–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.07.005
Lastras G, Canals M, Urgeles R, Hughes-Clarke JE, Acosta J (2004) Shallow slides and pockmark swarms in the Eivissa Channel, western Mediterranean Sea. Sedimentology 51:837–850. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2004.00654.x
Lei ZY, Zhang L, Su M, Luo SB, Qian X, Shui QW, Zhang BD (2017) Middle Miocene deep-water sediments in the Beikang Basin, Southern South China Sea: types, characteristics and implications. Mar Geol Quat Geol 37:110–118. https://doi.org/10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2017.06.012 (in Chinese)
Luo M, Chen LY, Wang SH, Yan W, Wang HB, Chen DF (2013) Pockmark activity inferred from pore water geochemistry in shallow sediments of the pockmark field in southwestern Xisha Uplift, northwestern South China Sea. Mar Pet Geol 48:247–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.08.018
Ma LW, Gu HM, Li ZJ, Lü SS (2015) Simulation of carbonate fracture-cavern reservoir reflection characteristics with forward modeling. Oil Geophys Prospect 50(2):290–297. https://doi.org/10.13810/j.cnki.issn.1000-7210.2015.02.013 (in Chinese)
Madon M, Kim CL, Wong R (2013) The structure and stratigraphy of deepwater Sarawak, Malaysia: implications for tectonic evolution. J Asian Earth Sci 76:312–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.04.040
Max MD, Schreiber R, Cherkis NZ (1992) Geological control of shallow gas and pockmarks in the Norwegian Channel; high resolution shallow Subbottom profiling of small scale features. Mar Geophys Res 14:77–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01674067
Michel G, Dupré S, Baltzer A, Ehrhold A, Imbert P, Pitel M, Loubrieu B, Scalabrin C, Lazure P, Marié L, Geoldof J, Deville É (2017) Pockmarks on the South Aquitaine Margin continental slope: the seabed expression of past fluid circulation and former bottom currents. C R Geosci 349:391–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2017.10.003
Mitchum RM, Vail PR, Thompson S III (1997) Seismic stratigraphy and global changes of sea level. Part 2: The depositional sequence as a basic unit for stratigraphic analysis. In: Payton CE (ed) Seismic stratigraphy—applications to hydrocarbon exploration, vol 26. AAPG Memoir, Tulsa, p 53–62
Mohammad AM, Wong RHF (1995) Seismic stratigraphy of the tertiary sediments, offshore Sarawak deepwater area, Malaysia. Bull Geol Soc Malays 37:354–361. https://doi.org/10.1306/A25FE80B-171B-11D7-8645000102C1865D
Nakajima T, Kakuwa Y, Yasudomi Y, Itaki T, Motoyama I, Tomiyama T, Machiyama H, Katayama H, Okitsu O, Morita S, Tanahashi M, Matsumoto R (2014) Formation of pockmarks and submarine canyons associated with dissociation of gas hydrates on the Joetsu Knoll, eastern margin of the Sea of Japan. J Asian Earth Sci 90:228–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.10.011
Ondréas H, Olu K, Fouquet Y, Charlou JL, Gay A, Dennielou B, Donval JP, Fifis A, Nadalig T, Cochonat P, Cauquil E, Bourillet JF, Moigne ML, Sibuet M (2005) ROV study of a giant pockmark on the Gabon continental margin. Geo-Mar Lett 25:281–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-005-0213-6
Pilcher R, Argent J (2007) Mega-pockmarks and linear pockmark trains on the West African continental margin. Mar Geol 244:15–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2007.05.002
Riboulot V, Sultan N, Imbert P, Ker S (2016) Initiation of gas-hydrate pockmark in deep-water Nigeria: geo-mechanical analysis and modelling. Earth Planet Sci Lett 434:252–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.11.047
Roy S, Hovland M, Braathen A (2016) Evidence of fluid seepage in Grønfjorden, Spitsbergen: implications from an integrated acoustic study of seafloor morphology, marine sediments and tectonics. Mar Geol 380:67–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2016.07.002
Sangree JB, Widemier JM (1997) Seismic stratigraphy and global changes of sea level. Part 9: Seismic interpretation of clastic depositional facies. In: Payton CE (ed) Seismic stratigraphy—applications to hydrocarbon exploration, vol. 26. AAPG Memoir, Tulsa, p 165–184
Schroot BM, Schüttenhelm RTE (2003) Shallow gas and gas seepage: expressions on seismic and otheracoustic data from the Netherlands North Sea. J Geochem Explor 78–79:305–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0375-6742(03)00112-2
Sultan N, Bohrmann G, Ruffine L, Pape T, Riboulot V, Colliat JL, Prunelem AD, Dennielou B, Garzigliam S, Himmler T, Marsset T, Peters CA, Rabiu A, Wei J, Marsset T (2014) Pockmark formation and evolution in deep water Nigeria: rapid hydrate growth versus slow hydrate dissolution. J Geophys Res 119:2679–2694. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013jb010546
Sultan N, Marsset B, Ker S, Marsset T, Voisset M, Vernant AM, Bayon G, Cauquil E, Adamy J, Colliat JL, Drapeau D (2010) Hydrate dissolution as a potential mechanism for pockmark formation in the Niger delta. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 115:B08101. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010jb007453
Sun QL, Alves T, Xie XN, He JX, Li W, Ni XL (2017) Free gas accumulations in basal shear zones of mass-transport deposits (Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea): an important geohazard on continental slope basins. Mar Pet Geol 81:17–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.12.029
Sun QL, Wu SG, Hovland M, Luo P, Lu YT, Qu TL (2011) The morphologies and genesis of mega-pockmarks near the Xisha Uplift, South China Sea. Mar Pet Geol 28:1146–1156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.03.003
Sun Z, Zhao ZX, Li JB, Zhou D, Wang ZW (2011a) Tectonic analysis of the breakup and collision unconformities in the Nansha. Chin J Geophys 54:3196–3209. https://doi.org/10.1002/cjg2.1685 (in Chinese)
Sun Z, Zhao ZX, Zhou D, Yang SK, Lin HM, Chen GH (2011b) The stratigraphy and the sequence architecture of the basins in Nansha region. Earth Sci 36:798–806. https://doi.org/10.3799/dqkx.2011.082 (in Chinese).
Tóth Z, Spiess V, Mogollón JM, Jensen JB (2014) Estimating the free gas content in Baltic Sea sediments using compressional wave velocity from marine seismic data. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 119:8577–8593. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JB010989
Wang HB, Yao BC, Liang JQ, Liu ZH, Wang LL (2001) Tectonic characteristics and division of the Beikang basin. Mar Geol Quat Geol 21:51–56. https://doi.org/10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2001.02.010 (in Chinese)
Wang LL, Zhu JY, Zhuo HT, Sun Z, Sun ZP, Song AX, Zhang HR (2019) Seismic characteristics and mechanism of fluid flow structures in the central depression of Qiongdongnan basin, northern margin of South China Sea. Int Geol Rev.https://doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2019.1695002
Warrlich G, Taberner C, Asyee W, Stephenson B, Esteban M, Boya-Ferrero M, Dombrowski A, Konijnenburg J (2010) The impact of post depositional processes on reservoir properties: two case studies of Tertiary carbonate buildup gas fields in Southeast Asia (Malampaya and E11). Cenozoic Carbonate Syst Aust.https://doi.org/10.2110/sepmsp.095.99
White RS (1977) Seismic bright spots in the Gulf of Oman. Earth Planet Sci Lett 37(1):29–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821x(77)90143-1
Wu D, Zhu XM, Zhang HH, Zhu M, Zhao DN, Geng MY, Li W, Liao ZB (2014) Deposition characteristics and hydrocarbon distribution in medium and large basins of Nansha, South China Sea. J Palaeogeogr 16:673–686. https://doi.org/10.7605/gdlxb.2014.05.054 (in Chinese)
Yan W, Zhang GX, Zhang L, Xia B, Yang Z, Lei ZY, Luo SB, Qian X (2018) Seismic responses and distribution characteristics of the Miocene carbonate platforms in the Beikang basin of southern South China Sea. Mar Geol Quat Geol 37:110–118. https://doi.org/10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2018.06.012 (in Chinese)
Yang L, Liu B, Xu MJ, Liu SX, Guan YX, Gu Y (2018) Characteristic of active cold seepages in Qiongdongnan Sea Area of the northern South China Sea. Chin J Geophys 61(7):2905–2914. https://doi.org/10.6038/cjg2018L0374 (in Chinese)
Yang SX, Qiu Y, Zhu BD (eds) (2015) Atlas of geology and geophysics of the South China Sea (in Chinese). China Navigation Publication House Press, Tianjin. ISBN: 9787548512578
Yao YJ, Yang CP, Li XJ, Ren JY, Jiang T, Tong DJ, Han B, Yin ZX, Xu QY (2013) The seismic reflection characteristics and tectonic significance of the tectonic revolutionary surface of mid-Miocene (T_3 seismic interface) in the southern South China Sea. Chin J Geophys 56:1274–1286. https://doi.org/10.6038/cjg20130422 (in Chinese)
Acknowledgements
We thank the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey for the permission of releasing these data for scientific research. Mr. Zhenyu Feng and Dr. Baojin Zhang are thanked for their kindly help and support when we lived in Guangzhou. We thank Dr. Jiangxin Chen, Dr. Lijie Wang, and Mr. Biwen Wang for their advices and help. Many thanks to the editor’s detail revision. This work is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC0310000), the National Program on Global Change and Air-Sea Interaction (GASI-GEOGE-05) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Number 41576047].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, K., Guan, Y., Song, H. et al. A preliminary study on morphology and genesis of giant and mega pockmarks near Andu Seamount, Nansha Region (South China Sea). Mar Geophys Res 41, 2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-020-09404-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-020-09404-y