loading page

Gas seepage and pockmark formation from subsurface reservoirs: Insights from table-top experiments
  • +1
  • Inbar Vaknin,
  • Einat Aharonov,
  • Ran Holtzman,
  • Oded Katz
Inbar Vaknin
1Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Author Profile
Einat Aharonov
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Author Profile
Ran Holtzman
Coventry University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Oded Katz
Geological Survey of Israel
Author Profile

Abstract

Pockmarks are morphological depressions commonly observed in ocean and lake floors. Pockmarks form by fluid (typically gas) seepage thorough a sealing sedimentary layer, deforming and breaching the layer. The seepage-induced sediment deformation mechanisms, and their links to the resulting pockmarks morphology, are not well understood. To bridge this gap, we conduct laboratory experiments in which gas seeps through a granular (sand) reservoir, overlaid by a (clay) seal, both submerged under water. We find that gas rises through the reservoir and accumulates at the seal base. Once sufficient gas over-pressure is achieved, gas deforms the seal, and finally escapes via either: (i) doming of the seal followed by dome breaching via fracturing; (ii) brittle faulting, delineating a plug. The gas lifts the plug and seeps through the bounding faults; or (iii) plastic deformation by bubbles ascending through the seal. The preferred mechanism is found to depend on the seal thickness and stiffness: in stiff seals, a transition from doming and fracturing to brittle faulting occurs as the thickness increases, whereas bubbles rise is preferred in the most compliant, thickest seals. Seepage can also occur by mixed modes, such as bubbles rising in faults. Repeated seepage events suspend the sediment at the surface and create pockmarks. We present a quantitative analysis that explains the tendency for the various modes of deformation observed experimentally. Finally, we connect simple theoretical arguments with field observations, highlighting similarities and differences that bound the applicability of laboratory experiments to natural pockmarks.
28 Nov 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
01 Dec 2023Published in ESS Open Archive
Apr 2024Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth volume 129 issue 4. 10.1029/2023JB028255