A new global gas hydrate budget based on numerical reaction-transport modeling and a novel parameterization of Holocene and Quaternary sedimentation

This study provides new estimates for the global methane hydrate inventory based on reaction-transport modeling [1]. A multi-1D model for POC degradation, gas hydrate formation and dissolution is presented. The model contains an open three-phase system of two solid (organic carbon, gas hydrates), three dissolved (methane, sulfates, inorganic carbon) and one gaseous (free methane) compounds. The reaction module builds upon the kinetic model of POC degradation [2] which considers a down-core decrease in reactivity of organic matter and the inhibition of methane production via accumulation of metabolites in sediment pore fluids. Global input grids have been compiled from a variety of oceanographic, geological and geophysical data sets including a parameterization of sedimentation rates in terms of water depth (Holocene) and distance to continents (Quaternary).The world's total gas hydrate inventory is estimated at 1.74 x 1013 m3 – ~2 x 1015 m3 CH4 (STP) or, equivalently, 8.3 – ~900 Gt of methane carbon. The first value refers to the present day conditions using the relatively low Holocene sedimentation rates; the second value corresponds to a scenario of higher Quaternary sedimentation rates along continental margins. This increase in the POC input could be explained by re-deposition process at the continental rise and slope due to erosion of continental shelf sediments during glacial times. Our results show that in-situ POC degradation is at present not an efficient hydrate forming process. Significant hydrate deposits are more likely to have formed at times of higher sedimentation during the Quaternary or/and as a consequence of active upward fluid transport

GH-3PAD – a new numerical solver for multiphase transport in porous media - new insights on gas hydrate and free gas co-existence

Gas Hydrate-3 Phase Advanced Dynamics (GH-3PAD) code has been developed to study the geophysical and biochemical processes associated with gas hydrate as well as free methane gas formation and dissolution in marine sediments. Biochemical processes influencing in-situ organic carbon decay and, therefore, gas hydrate formation, such as Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane (AOM), sulfate reduction, and methanogenesis have been considered. The new model assumes a Lagrangian reference frame that is attached to the deposited sedimentary layers, which compact according to their individual lithological properties. Differential motion of the pore fluids and free gas is modeled as Darcy flow. Gas hydrate and free gas formation is either controlled by 1) instant gas hydrate crystallization assuming local thermodynamical equilibrium or by a 2) kinetically controlled rate of gas hydrate growth. The thermal evolution is computed from an energy equation that includes contributions from all phases present in the model (sediment grains, saline pore fluids, gas hydrate, and free gas). A first application of the GH-3PAD model has been the Blake Ridge Site, offshore South Carolina. Here seismic and well data points to the out-of-equilibrium co-existence of gas hydrate and free gas. It has been reported that these two distinct phases appear within sediment column with a gaseous phase tending to migrate upwards throughout the Gas Hydrate Stability Zone (GHSZ) until it reaches the seafloor despite relatively low gas hydrate content (4 – 7 vol. % after Paull et al., 1996). With the GH-3PAD model we quantify the complex transport- reaction processes that control three phase (gas hydrate, free gas, and dissolved CH4) out-of-equilibrium state. References: Paull C. K., Matsumoto R., Wallace P. J., 1996. 9. Site 997, Shipboard Scientific Party. Proceeding of the Ocean Drilling Program, Initial Reports, Vol. 164

Implications of subduction rehydration for earth's deep water cycle

The “standard model” for the genesis of the oceans is that they are exhalations from Earth’s deep interior continually rinsed through surface rocks by the global hydrologic cycle. No general consensus exists, however, on the water distribution within the deeper mantle of the Earth. Recently Dixon et al. [2002] estimated water concentrations for some of the major mantle components and concluded that the most primitive (FOZO) are significantly wetter than the recycling associated EM or HIMU mantle components and the even drier depleted mantle source that melts to form MORB. These findings are in striking agreement with the results of numerical modeling of the global water cycle that are presented here. We find that the Dixon et al. [2002] results are consistent with a global water cycle model in which the oceans have formed by efficient outgassing of the mantle. Present-day depleted mantle will contain a small volume fraction of more primitive wet mantle in addition to drier recycling related enriched components. This scenario is consis-tent with the observation that hotspots with a FOZO-component in their source will make wetter basalts than hotspots whose mantle sources contain a larger fraction of EM and HIMU components

Transport- reaction modeling of marine gas hydrate deposits- global results

We have developed a multi-1D numerical model of gas hydrate formation and dissolution processes in anoxic marine sediments and, by this model, we have estimated the new global gas hydrate inventory (BURWICZ E. B. et al., 2011). The reaction-transport model contains various chemical compounds (solid organic carbon, dissolved methane, inorganic carbon, and sulfates, gas hydrates, and free methane gas). The rates of POC degradation, anaerobic methane oxidation, sulfate reduction, and methanogenesis are kinetically controlled. Gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) is defined as a combination of pressure, temperature, and (to a smaller degree) salinity conditions. The lower boundary of the GHSZ is defined as the intersection of gas hydrate and methane gas solubilities. The diffusion equations are solved using a fully-implicit finite-differences method, while all transport processes are resolved by a Semi-Lagrangian scheme. Global input data sets (1°x1° resolution) were compiled from various oceanographic, geological and geophysical sources. The entire model was implemented in Matlab

Melt-induced buoyancy may explain the elevated rift-rapid sag paradox during breakup of continental plates

The division of the earth’s surface into continents and oceans is a consequence of plate tectonics but a geological paradox exists at continent-ocean boundaries. Continental plate is thicker and lighter than oceanic plate, floating higher on the mantle asthenosphere, but it can rift apart by thinning and heating to form new oceans. In theory, continental plate subsides in proportion to the amount it is thinned and subsequently by the rate it cools down. However, seismic and borehole data from continental margins like the Atlantic show that the upper surface of many plates remains close to sea-level during rifting, inconsistent with its thickness, and subsides after breakup more rapidly than cooling predicts. Here we use numerical models to investigate the origin and nature of this puzzling behaviour with data from the Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola. We explore an idea where the continental plate is made increasingly buoyant during rifting by melt produced and trapped in the asthenosphere. Using finite element simulation, we demonstrate that partially molten asthenosphere combined with other mantle processes can counteract the subsidence effect of thinning plate, keeping it elevated by 2-3 km until breakup. Rapid subsidence occurs after breakup when melt is lost to the embryonic ocean ridge

Effects of Plate Subduction on the Earth's Deep Water Cycles

This thesis explores hydration and dehydration reactions of oceanic lithosphere at subduction zones. On a regional, subduction zone scale the intensity and timing of slab fluid is studied using a chemo-thermo-mechanical model. By coupling this model to a parameterized mantle convection model the global implications of plate subduction on the geochemical water cycle of the Earth's mantle are explored

HydrothermalFoam v1.0: a 3-D hydrothermal transport model for natural submarine hydrothermal systems

Herein, we introduce HydrothermalFoam, a three dimensional hydro-thermo-transport model designed to resolve fluid flow within submarine hydrothermal circulation systems. HydrothermalFoam has been developed on the OpenFOAM platform, which is a Finite Volume based C++ toolbox for fluid-dynamic simulations and for developing customized numerical models that provides access to state-of-the-art parallelized solvers and to a wide range of pre- and post-processing tools. We have implemented a porous media Darcy-flow model with associated boundary conditions designed to facilitate numerical5 simulations of submarine hydrothermal systems. The current implementation is valid for single-phase fluid states and uses a pure water equation-of-state (IAPWS-97). We here present the model formulation, OpenFOAM implementation details, and a sequence of 1-D, 2-D and 3-D benchmark tests. The source code repository further includes a number of tutorials that can be used as starting points for building specialized hydrothermal flow models. The model is published under the GNU General Public License v3.0