Geochemical and Geophysical Monitoring of Hydrocarbon Seepage in the Adriatic Sea

Sensors

Tiziana Veneruso¹  Marcello Dell’Orso¹  AndreeSoledad Bonetti¹  Marco Mastroianni¹  Ilaria Antoncecchi¹  Marzia Rovere²  Claudio Pellegrini²  Alessandra Mercorella²  Francesco Ciccone²  Valerio Funari²  Giordano Giuliani³  AnnaNora Tassetti³  Emanuela Frapiccini³  Gianna Fabi³  Rocco De Marco³  Federico Spagnoli³ 

[1] DGS UNMIG Division V, Ministry of Economic Development, Via A. Bosio 13B, 00161 Roma, Italy;Istituto di Scienze Marine, National Research Council, Via P. Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy;Istituto per le Risorse Biologiche e le Biotecnologie Marine, National Research Council, Largo Fiera della Pesca 2, 60125 Ancona, Italy;

关键词: mediterranean sea;    biogenic methane;    benthic chamber;    pockmarks;    geochemical proxy;    cold seep;    hydrocarbon exploration;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s20051504

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Hydrocarbon seepage is overlooked in the marine environment, mostly due to the lack of high-resolution exploration data. This contribution is about the set-up of a relocatable and cost-effective monitoring system, which was tested on two seepages in the Central Adriatic Sea. The two case studies are an oil spill at a water depth of 10 m and scattered biogenic methane seeps at a water depth of 84 m. Gas plumes in the water column were detected with a multibeam system, tightened to sub-seafloor seismic reflection data. Dissolved benthic fluxes of nutrients, metals and Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) were measured by in situ deployment of a benthic chamber, which was used also for the first time to collect water samples for hydrocarbons characterization. In addition, the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as major and trace elements were analyzed to provide an estimate of hydrocarbon contamination in the surrounding sediment and to make further inferences on the petroleum system.

【 授权许可】

Unknown