Dating submarine landslides using the transient response of gas hydrate stability

Submarine landslides are prevalent on the modern-day seafloor, yet an elusive problem is constraining the timing of slope failure. Herein, we present a novel technique for constraining the age of submarine landslides without sediment core dating. Underneath a submarine landslide in the Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico, in 3D seismic data we map an irregular bottom simulating reflection (BSR), which mimics the geometry of the pre-slide seafloor rather than the modern bathymetry. Based on the observed BSR, we suggest that the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) is currently adjusting to the post-slide sediment temperature perturbations. We apply transient conductive heat flow modeling to constrain the response of the GHSZ to the slope failure, which yields a most likely age of ~8 ka demonstrating that gas hydrate systems can respond to slope failures even on the millennia timescales. We also provide an analytical approach to rapidly determine the age of submarine slides at any location.

Influence of temperature variability in the near-bottom layer on the results of geothermal measurements in the Kvitøya trough (Barents sea)

According to a study of the water column thermal variability in the Kvitøya trough (the northern part of the Barents Sea) substantial water temperature fluctuations in the near-bottom layer were found, both the seasonal and interannual, which affect the distribution of temperature in the upper layer of bottom sediments, and therefore the results of geothermal measurements. The contribution of temperature fluctuations on the water-sediments boundary to the values of the conductive heat flow measured during 25th cruise of the RV “Akademik Nikolaj Strakhov” was calculated. Endogenous heat flow was determined.

Evolution of heat flow, hydrothermal circulation and permeability on the young southern flank of the Costa Rica Rift

SUMMARY We analyse 67 new conductive heat-flow measurements on the southern flank of the Costa Rica Rift (CRR). Heat-flow measurements cover five sites ranging in oceanic crustal age between approximately 1.6 and 5.7 Ma, and are co-located with a high-resolution multichannel seismic line that extends from slightly north of the first heat-flow site (1.6 Ma) to beyond ODP Hole 504B in 6.9 Ma crust. For the five heat-flow sites, the mean observed conductive heat flow is ≈85 mW m−2. This value is approximately 30 per cent of the mean lithospheric heat flux expected from a half-space conductive cooling model, indicating that hydrothermal processes account for about 70 per cent of the heat loss. The advective heat loss fraction varies from site to site and is explained by a combination of outcrop to outcrop circulation through exposed basement outcrops and discharge through faults. Supercritical convection in Layer 2A extrusives occurs between 1.6 and 3.5 Ma, and flow through a thinly sedimented basement high occurs at 4.6 Ma. Advective heat loss diminishes rapidly between ≈4.5 and ≈5.7 Ma, which contrasts with plate cooling reference models that predict a significant deficit in conductive heat flow up to ages ≈65 ± 10 Ma. At ≈5.7 Ma the CRR topography is buried under sediment with an average thickness of ≈150 m, and hydrothermal circulation in the basement becomes subcritical or perhaps marginally critical. The absence of significant advective heat loss at ≈5.7 Ma at the CRR is thus a function of both burial of basement exposure under the sediment load and a reduction in basement permeability that possibly occurs as a result of mineral precipitation and original permeability at the time of formation. Permeability is a non-monotonic function of age along the southern flank of the CRR, in general agreement with seismic velocity tomography interpretations that reflect variations in the degree of ridge-axis magma supply and tectonic extension. Hydrothermal circulation in the young oceanic crust at the southern flank of CRR is affected by the interplay and complex interconnectedness of variations in permeability, sediment thickness, topographical structure, and tectonic and magmatic activities with age.

Heat flow from the Earth interior as indicator of deep processes

The energy aspects of the problem of intraterrestrial heat transfer in various forms are discussed. Endogenous causes of conductive heat flow dispersion − radiogenic heat generation, tectonic movements and magmatism (volcanism), including its latent and open discharge in the form of volcanic and hydrothermal activity are considered. The geological ordering of the heat flow in the continental crust is related to convective discharge of the heat and mass flux from the mantle, marked by the isotopic composition of helium in freely circulating underground fluids. The combined transport of heat and helium, as well as the correlation of He isotopic compositions in volcanic and hydrothermal gases and Sr compositions in young lavas, testify to the silicate nature of the heat and mass flow emanating from the mantle reservoirs of different depths.

Natural convection in a corrugated slot

Analysis of natural convection in a horizontal slot formed by two corrugated isothermal plates has been carried out. The analysis is limited to subcritical Rayleigh numbers$Ra$where no secondary motion takes place in the absence of corrugations. The corrugations have a sinusoidal form characterized by the wavenumber, the upper and lower amplitudes and the phase difference. The most intense convection occurs for corrugation wavelengths comparable to the slot height; it increases proportionally to$Ra$and proportionally to the corrugation height. Placement of corrugations on both plates may either significantly increase or decrease the convection depending on the phase difference between the upper and lower corrugations, with the strongest convection found for corrugations being in phase, i.e. a ‘wavy’ slot, and the weakest for corrugations being out of phase, i.e. a ‘converging–diverging’ slot. It is shown that the shear forces would always contribute to the corrugation build-up if erosion was allowed, while the role of pressure forces depends on the location of the corrugations as well as on the corrugation height and wavenumber, and the Rayleigh number. Placing corrugations on both plates results in the formation of a moment which attempts to change the relative position of the plates. There are two limiting positions, i.e. the ‘wavy’ slot and the ‘converging–diverging’ slot, with the latter being unstable. The system would end up in the ‘wavy’ slot configuration if relative movement of the two plates was allowed. The presence of corrugations affects the conductive heat flow and creates a convective heat flow. The conductive heat flow increases with the corrugation height as well as with the corrugation wavenumber; it is largest for short-wavelength corrugations. The convective heat flow is relevant only for wavenumbers of$O(1)$, it increases proportionally to$Ra^{3}$and proportionally to the second power of the corrugation height. Convection is qualitatively similar for all Prandtl numbers$Pr$, with its intensity increasing for smaller$Pr$and with the heat transfer augmentation increasing for larger$Pr$.