Ocean-bottom seismographs based on broadband MET sensors: architecture and deployment case study in the Arctic

The Arctic seas are now of particular interest due to their prospects in terms of hydrocarbon extraction, development of marine transport routes, etc. Thus, various geohazards, including those related to seismicity, require detailed studies, especially by instrumental methods. This paper is devoted to the ocean-bottom seismographs (OBS) based on broadband molecular–electronic transfer (MET) sensors and a deployment case study in the Laptev Sea. The purpose of the study is to introduce the architecture of several modifications of OBS and to demonstrate their applicability in solving different tasks in the framework of seismic hazard assessment for the Arctic seas. To do this, we used the first results of several pilot deployments of the OBS developed by Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IO RAS) and IP Ilyinskiy A.D. in the Laptev Sea that took place in 2018–2020. We highlighted various seismological applications of OBS based on broadband MET sensors CME-4311 (60 s) and CME-4111 (120 s), including the analysis of ambient seismic noise, registering the signals of large remote earthquakes and weak local microearthquakes, and the instrumental approach of the site response assessment. The main characteristics of the broadband MET sensors and OBS architectures turned out to be suitable for obtaining high-quality OBS records under the Arctic conditions to solve seismological problems. In addition, the obtained case study results showed the prospects in a broader context, such as the possible influence of the seismotectonic factor on the bottom-up thawing of subsea permafrost and massive methane release, probably from decaying hydrates and deep geological sources. The described OBS will be actively used in further Arctic expeditions

CASCADE-The Circum-Arctic Sediment CArbon DatabasE

Biogeochemical cycling in the semi-enclosed Arctic Ocean is strongly influenced by land–ocean transport of carbon and other elements and is vulnerable to environmental and climate changes. Sediments of the Arctic Ocean are an important part of biogeochemical cycling in the Arctic and provide the opportunity to study present and historical input and the fate of organic matter (e.g., through permafrost thawing). Comprehensive sedimentary records are required to compare differences between the Arctic regions and to study Arctic biogeochemical budgets. To this end, the Circum-Arctic Sediment CArbon DatabasE (CASCADE) was established to curate data primarily on concentrations of organic carbon (OC) and OC isotopes (δ13C, Δ14C) yet also on total N (TN) as well as terrigenous biomarkers and other sediment geochemical and physical properties. This new database builds on the published literature and earlier unpublished records through an extensive international community collaboration. This paper describes the establishment, structure and current status of CASCADE. The first public version includes OC concentrations in surface sediments at 4244 oceanographic stations including 2317 with TN concentrations, 1555 with δ13C-OC values and 268 with Δ14C-OC values and 653 records with quantified terrigenous biomarkers (high-molecular-weight n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and lignin phenols). CASCADE also includes data from 326 sediment cores, retrieved by shallow box or multi-coring, deep gravity/piston coring, or sea-bottom drilling. The comprehensive dataset reveals large-scale features of both OC content and OC sources between the shelf sea recipients. This offers insight into release of pre-aged terrigenous OC to the East Siberian Arctic shelf and younger terrigenous OC to the Kara Sea. Circum-Arctic sediments thereby reveal patterns of terrestrial OC remobilization and provide clues about thawing of permafrost. CASCADE enables synoptic analysis of OC in Arctic Ocean sediments and facilitates a wide array of future empirical and modeling studies of the Arctic carbon cycle. The database is openly and freely available online (https://doi.org/10.17043/cascade; Martens et al., 2021), is provided in various machine-readable data formats (data tables, GIS shapefile, GIS raster), and also provides ways for contributing data for future CASCADE versions. We will continuously update CASCADE with newly published and contributed data over the foreseeable future as part of the database management of the Bolin Centre for Climate Research at Stockholm University

Carbon depth cycle and formation of abiogenic hydrocarbons

The relevance. Identification of mechanisms of carbon metamorphic transformation in convergent and divergent regions of the Earth, assessment of the scale of deep transport and the transfer on the generation of abiogenic hydrocarbons in tectonic discharge zones are some of the most urgent problems of modern geology. The aim of the research is to describe multi-stage and polycyclic carbon transformation and transfer in the crust and mantle. Sedimentary rocks covered in subductions zones are destroyed and transformed by metamorphic processes. Some of the newly formed carbon compounds are transferred by convective flows of the mantle to the rift zones of mid-ocean ridges, brought to the surface, decomposed in the presence of water and form a wide range of hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide. There, they are again deposited on the sea floor in the form of sediments forming carbonate and carbon/containing structural/material complexes. Result. It is determined that the manifestation of a multi-stage mechanism of physicochemical transformations in crust-mantle areas of the Earth leads to occurrence of features of abiogenic origin in biogenic hydrocarbons. The identified crust-mantle carbon cycle is a part of a global process of carbon cyclic transport from the atmosphere into the mantle and back. The scale of its manifestation, most likely, is not so large. Numerous small (mm and fractions of mm) particles of exogenous matter and dispersed carbon pulled in plate subduction zones form a stable geochemical train of the crustal trend in the mantle spreading along the surface of convection flows motion. It is possible to judge indirectly the scale of this process manifestation by degassing amount of hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide gases and hydrogen in Earth's crust rift systems. In this case the amount of generated depth/origin hydrocarbon gases cannot form large gas and oil and gas fields as their significant part is released in the atmosphere. Only a small amount of compounds may be deposited in oceanic sediments and form gas hydrate accumulations in them

(Table 1) Results of geothermal measurements in the Black Sea 2000 and 2001 expeditions

According to the World Ocean Program in the northeastern part of the continental slope of the Black Sea geothermal, seismologic and seismic studies were carried out. An analysis of heat flow distribution allowed to distinguish a negative geothermal anomaly near the Dzhubga area, where the Russia-Turkey pipeline was being constructed. During seismological observations (August-September 1999, September 2001) more than 1200 seismic events were recorded. They proved high tectonic activity of the region under study, which stimulates gravitational sediment transport on the continental slope. The seismo-acoustic survey carried out in the area of the geothermal anomaly revealed no reflecting horizons within the sedimentary cover. This may be related to turbidite-landsliding processes. Results of modeling of the heat flow anomaly showed that it had originated approximately 1000 years ago due to a powerful landslide. This also suggests a possibility of an avalanche displacement of sedimentary masses in the area of the pipeline at present

Features of the Largest Earthquake Seismic Cycles in the Western Part of the Aleutian Subduction Zone

We discussed the peculiarities of the seismic cycle in Aleutian subduction zone, characterized by an oblique subduction setting. It was shown that the orientation of the plate convergence vector relative to the subduction zone axis can have a significant impact on the preparation and occurrence of the largest earthquakes in subduction zones. In particular, from the analysis of the seismic activity occurring in the western part of the Aleutian island arc, it was found that the seismic cycles here are shorter than in the eastern part of the arc. It was revealed that the strongest earthquakes, repeating in the same areas of the western part of the Aleutian subduction zone, differ both in magnitude and length of the fault zone. Taking into account the oblique subduction setting, we proposed the keyboard model of the largest megathrust earthquakes generation as a mechanism potentially capable of explaining the reduction in the seismic cycle duration and noticeable differences in the spatial extent and localization of the fault zones of events with similar magnitudes occurring in the same segment of the western half of the Aleutian subduction zone

Keyboard Model of Seismic Cycle of Great Earthquakes in Subduction Zones: Simulation Results and Further Generalization

Catastrophic megaearthquakes (M > 8) occurring in the subduction zones are among the most devastating hazards on the planet. In this paper we discuss the seismic cycles of the megathrust earthquakes and propose a blockwise geomechanical model explaining certain features of the stress-deformation cycle revealed in recent decades from seismological and satellite geodesy (GNSS) observations. Starting with an overview of the so-called keyboard model of the seismic cycle by L. Lobkovsky, we outline mathematical formalism describing the motion of seismogenic block system assuming viscous rheology beneath and between the neighboring elastic blocks sitting on top of the subducting slab. By summarizing the GNSS-based evidence from our previous studies concerning the transient motions associated with the 2006–2007 Simushir earthquakes, 2010 Maule earthquake, and 2011 Tohoku earthquake, we demonstrate that those data support the keyboard model and reveal specific effect of the postseismic oceanward motion. However, since the seismogenic blocks in subduction systems are mostly located offshore, the direct analysis of GNSS-measured displacements and velocities is hardly possible in terms of the original keyboard model. Hence, the generalized two-segment keyboard model is introduced, containing both frontal offshore blocks and rear onshore blocks, which allows for direct interpretation of the onshore-collected GNSS data. We present a numerical computation scheme and a series of simulated data, which exhibits the consistency with measured motions and enables estimating the seismic cycle characteristics, important for the long-term earthquake forecasting

Mathematical model of the decomposition of unstable gas hydrate accumulations in the cryolithozone

We present a generalization of the mathematical model of gas discharge from frozen rocks containing gas-saturated ice and gas hydrates in a metastable state (due to the self-preservation effect) caused by the drop in external stress associated with various geodynamic factors. These factors can be attributed, for example, to a decrease in hydrostatic pressure on a gas-bearing formation due to glacier melting, causing an isostatic rise, or to the formation of linear depressions in the bottom topography on the shelf due to iceberg ploughing. A change in external pressure can also be associated with seismic and tectonic deformation waves propagating in the lithosphere as a result of ongoing strong earthquakes. Starting from the existing hydrate destruction model, operating at the scale of individual granules, we consider a low-permeable hydrate and ice-saturated horizontal reservoir. Generalization is associated with the introduction of a finite threshold for the external pressure drop, which causes the destruction of the gas hydrate and gas-saturated microcavities of supramolecular size. This makes it possible to take into account the effect of anomalously high pressures occurring in the released gas as a result of partial hydrate dissociation. Numerical and approximate analytical solutions to the problem were found in the self-similar formulation. A parametric study of the solution was carried out, and regularities of the hydrate decomposition process were revealed

Features of the Largest Earthquake Seismic Cycles in the Western Part of the Aleutian Subduction Zone

We discussed the peculiarities of the seismic cycle in Aleutian subduction zone, characterized by an oblique subduction setting. It was shown that the orientation of the plate convergence vector relative to the subduction zone axis can have a significant impact on the preparation and occurrence of the largest earthquakes in subduction zones. In particular, from the analysis of the seismic activity occurring in the western part of the Aleutian island arc, it was found that the seismic cycles here are shorter than in the eastern part of the arc. It was revealed that the strongest earthquakes, repeating in the same areas of the western part of the Aleutian subduction zone, differ both in magnitude and length of the fault zone. Taking into account the oblique subduction setting, we proposed the keyboard model of the largest megathrust earthquakes generation as a mechanism potentially capable of explaining the reduction in the seismic cycle duration and noticeable differences in the spatial extent and localization of the fault zones of events with similar magnitudes occurring in the same segment of the western half of the Aleutian subduction zone

Peculiarities of the HVSR Method Application to Seismic Records Obtained by Ocean-Bottom Seismographs in the Arctic

The application of the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) modeling and inversion techniques is becoming more and more widespread for assessing the seismic response and velocity model of soil deposits due to their effectiveness, environmental friendliness, relative simplicity and low cost. Nevertheless, a number of issues related to the use of these techniques in difficult natural conditions, such as in the shelf areas of the Arctic seas, where the critical structures are also designed, remain poorly understood. In this paper, we describe the features of applying the HVSR modeling and inversion techniques to seismic records obtained by ocean-bottom seismographs (OBS) on the outer shelf of the Laptev Sea. This region is characterized by high seismotectonic activity, as well as sparse submarine permafrost distribution and the massive release of bubble methane from bottom sediments. The seismic stations were installed for one year and their period of operation included periods of time when the sea was covered with ice and when the sea was ice-free. The results of processing of the recorded ambient seismic noise, as well as the wave recorder data and ERA5 and EUMETSAT reanalysis data, showed a strong dependence of seafloor seismic noise on the presence of sea ice cover, as well as weather conditions, wind speed in particular. Wind-generated gravity waves, as well as infragravity waves, are responsible for the increase in the level of ambient seismic noise. The high-frequency range of 5 Hz and above is strongly affected by the coupling effect, which in turn also depends on wind-generated gravity waves and infragravity waves. The described seafloor seismic noise features must be taken into account during HVSR modeling and interpretation. The obtained HVSR curves plotted from the records of one of the OBSs revealed a resonant peak corresponding to 3 Hz, while the curves plotted from the records of another OBS did not show clear resonance peaks in the representative frequency range. Since both OBSs were located in the area of sparse distribution of submarine permafrost, the presence of a resonance peak may be an indicator of the presence of a contrasting boundary of the upper permafrost surface under the location of the OBS. The absence of a clear resonant peak in the HVSR curve may indicate that the permafrost boundary is either absent at this site or its depth is beyond the values corresponding to representative seismic sensor frequency band. Thus, HVSR modeling and inversion techniques can be effective for studying the position of submarine permafrost

Carbon depth cycle and formation of abiogenic hydrocarbons

Актуальность. Выявление механизмов метаморфической трансформации углерода в конвергентных и дивергентных областях Земли, оценка масштабов глубинного переноса и влияние на процессы генерации абиогенных углеводородов в зонах тектонической разгрузки являются одними из наиболее актуальных задач современной геологии. Цель исследования заключается в описании процессов многостадийного и полициклического преобразования и переноса углерода в коре и мантии. Затянутые в зонах поддвига плит осадки разрушаются, трансформируются и преобразуются метаморфическими процессами. Часть вновь сформированных углеродистых соединений переносится конвективными течениями мантии в рифтовые зоны срединно-океанических хребтов, выносятся на поверхность, разлагаются в присутствии воды и образуют широкий спектр углеводородов и углекислого газа. Там они снова отлагаются на морском дне в виде осадков, образуя карбонатные и углеродсодержащие структурно-вещественные комплексы. Результаты. Определено, что проявление многоступенчатого механизма физико-химических преобразований в коромантийных областях Земли приводит к тому, что биогенные углеводородные соединения приобретают черты абиогенного происхождения. Выявленный коромантийный цикл углерода является частью глобального процесса циклического переноса углерода из атмосферы в мантию и обратно. Масштабы его проявления, скорее всего, не столь широки, а многочисленные мелкие (мм и доли мм) частицы экзогенного вещества и рассеянного углерода, затянутые в зоны поддвига плит, образуют устойчивый геохимический шлейф коровой направленности в мантии, распространяющийся в плоскости перемещения конвективных потоков. Косвенно о масштабе проявления данного процесса можно судить по объемам дегазации углеводородных и углекислого газов, а также водорода в рифтовых системах земной коры. При этом количество генерируемых углеводородных газов глубинного происхождения не могут формировать крупных газовых и нефтегазовых месторождений, т. к. значительная их часть переносится в атмосферу. Лишь некоторое количество соединений может отлагаться в океанических осадках и формировать в них залежи газогидратов.The relevance. Identification of mechanisms of carbon metamorphic transformation in convergent and divergent regions of the Earth, assessment of the scale of deep transport and the transfer on the generation of abiogenic hydrocarbons in tectonic discharge zones are some of the most urgent problems of modern geology. The aim of the research is to describe multi-stage and polycyclic carbon transformation and transfer in the crust and mantle. Sedimentary rocks covered in subductions zones are destroyed and transformed by metamorphic processes. Some of the newly formed carbon compounds are transferred by convective flows of the mantle to the rift zones of mid-ocean ridges, brought to the surface, decomposed in the presence of water and form a wide range of hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide. There, they are again deposited on the sea floor in the form of sediments forming carbonate and carbon/containing structural/material complexes. Result. It is determined that the manifestation of a multi-stage mechanism of physicochemical transformations in crust-mantle areas of the Earth leads to occurrence of features of abiogenic origin in biogenic hydrocarbons. The identified crust-mantle carbon cycle is a part of a global process of carbon cyclic transport from the atmosphere into the mantle and back. The scale of its manifestation, most likely, is not so large. Numerous small (mm and fractions of mm) particles of exogenous matter and dispersed carbon pulled in plate subduction zones form a stable geochemical train of the crustal trend in the mantle spreading along the surface of convection flows motion. It is possible to judge indirectly the scale of this process manifestation by degassing amount of hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide gases and hydrogen in Earth's crust rift systems. In this case the amount of generated depth/origin hydrocarbon gases cannot form large gas and oil and gas fields as their significant part is released in the atmosphere. Only a small amount of compounds may be deposited in oceanic sediments and form gas hydrate accumulations in them