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M³: Towards Long-Term Acoustic Monitoring of Gas Emissions using Underwater Cabled Observatory Technology
  • +4
  • Yann Marcon,
  • Heiko Sahling,
  • Till von Wahl,
  • Ulli Spiesecke,
  • Vincent Vittori,
  • Tom Leymann,
  • Gerhard Bohrmann
Yann Marcon
Universitat Bremen Fachbereich 05 Geowissenschaften

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Heiko Sahling
Universitat Bremen Fachbereich 05 Geowissenschaften

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Till von Wahl
Zentrum fur Marine Umweltwissenschaften

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Ulli Spiesecke
Zentrum fur Marine Umweltwissenschaften

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Vincent Vittori
Zentrum fur Marine Umweltwissenschaften

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Tom Leymann
Zentrum fur Marine Umweltwissenschaften

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Gerhard Bohrmann
Universitat Bremen Fachbereich 05 Geowissenschaften

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

Natural methane gas release from the seafloor is a widespread phenomenon that occurs at cold seeps along most continental margins. Since their discovery in the early 1980s, seeps have been the focus of intensive research, partly aimed to refine the global carbon budget. However, deep-sea research is challenging and expensive and, to date, few works have successfully monitored the variability of methane gas release over long time periods (> 1 yr). Long-term monitoring is necessary to study the mechanisms that control seabed gas release. The M³ project, funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, aims to study the temporal and spatial variability of gas emissions at the Southern Hydrate Ridge (SHR) by acoustically monitoring and quantifying gas effluxes over several years. Located 850 m deep on the Cascadia accretionary prism offshore Oregon, the SHR is one of the most studied seep sites and persistent but variable gas release has been observed for more than 20 years. Since 2015, the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s (OOI) Cabled Array observatory, provides power supply and two-way communication to the SHR, making it an ideal site for continuous long-term monitoring work. In this work, we present how we will take advantage of the OOI infrastructure and deploy several instruments on the seabed for at least 1.5 year. A multi-beam “overview” sonar mounted on a rotor will identify every gas bubble stream located within 200 m from the sonar location. A scanning “quantification” sonar will be used to estimate the amount of gas that is released from discrete gas streams. A camera system and a CTD probe will help process and analyze the hydro-acoustic data. All instruments will be powered and controlled from land through the OOI infrastructure. We present the instrument design, the operation protocol, as well as the data processing steps and expected results.