Riedel, Michael; Collett, Timothy S.; Malone, Mitchell J. (2005): Expedition 311 synthesis; scientific findings. IODP Management International, Washington, DC, United States, In: Riedel, Michael, Collett, Timothy S., Malone, Mitchell J., Guerin, Gilles, Akiba, Fumio, Blanc-Valleron, Marie-Madeleine, Ellis, Michelle, Hashimoto, Yoshitaka, Heuer, Verena, Higashi, Yosuke, Holland, Melanie, Jackson, Peter D., Kaneko, Masanori, Kastner, Miriam, Kim, Ji-Hoon, Kitajima, Hiroko, Long, Philip E., Malinverno, Alberto, Myers, Greg, Palekar, Leena D., Pohlman, John, Schultheiss, Peter, Teichert, Barbara, Torres, Marta E., Trehu, Anne M., Wang Jiasheng, Wortmann, Ulrich G., Yoshioka, Hideyoshi, Proceedings of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program; Cascadia margin gas hydrates; Expedition 311 of the riserless drilling platform; Balboa, Panama to Victoria, British Columbia (Canada); Sites U1325-U1329; 28 August-28 October 2005, 311, georefid:2010-064295

Abstract:
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 311 was conducted to study gas hydrate occurrences and their evolution along a transect spanning the entire northern Cascadia accretionary margin. A transect of four research sites (U1325, U1326, U1327, and U1329) was established over a distance of 32 km, extending from Site U1326 near the deformation front to Site U1329 at the eastern limit of the inferred gas hydrate occurrence zone. In addition to the transect, a fifth site (U1328) was established at a cold vent setting with active fluid and gas expulsion, which provided an opportunity to compare regional pervasive fluid-flow regimes to a site of focused fluid advection. In this synthesis, a revised gas hydrate formation model is proposed based on a combination of geophysical, geochemical, and sedimentological data acquired during and after Expedition 311 and from previous studies. The main elements of this revised model are as follows: 1. Fluid expulsion by tectonic compression of accreted sediments at nonuniform expulsion rates along the transect results in the evolution of variable pore water regimes across the margin. Sites closer to the deformation front are characterized by pore fluids enriched in dissolved salts at depth, where zeolite formation from ash diagenesis is dominant. In contrast, the landward portion of the margin shows a freshening of pore fluids with depth as a result of the progressive overprinting of diagenetic salt generation with freshwater generation from the smectite-to-illite transition at greater depth. 2. In situ methane produced by microbial CO (sub 2) reduction within the gas hydrate stability zone is the prevalent gas source for gas hydrate formation. 3. Some minor methane advection from depth is required overall to explain the occurrence of gas hydrate (and the associated downhole isotopic signatures of CH (sub 4) and CO (sub 2) ) within the sediments of the accretionary prism and the absence of gas hydrate within the abyssal plain sediments. In contrast, methane migrating from depth is a dominant source for gas hydrate formation at the cold vent Site U1328 (Bullseye vent). 4. Gas hydrate preferentially forms in coarser grained sandy/silt turbidites, resulting in very high local gas hydrate concentrations. Typically, gas hydrate occupies <5% of the pore space throughout the gas hydrate stability zone. Higher gas hydrate saturations were observed in intervals with abundant coarse-grained sand layers and within fault-controlled fluid and gas migration conduits at the cold vent Site U1328.
Coverage:
West: -127.0400 East: -126.4000 North: 48.4800 South: 48.3700
Relations:
Expedition: 311
Site: 311-U1325
Site: 311-U1326
Site: 311-U1327
Site: 311-U1328
Site: 311-U1329
Data access:
Provider: SEDIS Publication Catalogue
Data set link: http://sedis.iodp.org/pub-catalogue/index.php?id=10.2204/iodp.proc.311.213.2010 (c.f. for more detailed metadata)
Data download: application/pdf
This metadata in ISO19139 XML format