1. Pockmarks Offshore Big Sur, California Provide Evidence for Recurrent, Regional, and Unconfined Sediment Gravity Flows.
- Author
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Lundsten, E., Paull, C. K., Gwiazda, R., Dobbs, S., Caress, D. W., Kuhnz, L. A., Walton, M., Nieminski, N., McGann, M., Lorenson, T., Cochrane, G., and Addison, J.
- Subjects
SEDIMENTS ,BIOTIC communities ,AUTONOMOUS underwater vehicles ,OCEANOGRAPHIC maps ,ATMOSPHERIC methane ,GRAVITY - Abstract
Recent surface ship multibeam surveys of the Sur Pockmark Field, offshore Central California, reveal >5,000 pockmarks in an area that is slated to host a wind farm, between 500‐ and 1,500‐m water depth. Extensive fieldwork was conducted to characterize the seafloor environment and its recent geologic history, including visual observations with remotely operated vehicles, sediment core sampling, and high‐resolution, near‐bottom Chirp and multibeam surveys collected with autonomous underwater vehicles to capture the morphology and stratigraphy of the pockmarks. No evidence of high methane concentrations in sediments, chemosynthetic biological communities, or methane‐derived diagenetic byproducts was found. Chirp data and sediment cores showed alternating layers of slowly accumulating hemipelagic drapes interrupted by more reflective turbidite horizons that extend throughout the pockmark field and beyond. Chirp data showed multiple episodes of lateral migration over time in some of the pockmarks in association with erosion and infilling events. Laterally continuous turbidite horizons that overlay erosional surfaces indicated that pockmark migration occurred synchronously in multiple pockmarks separated by tens of kilometers. These shifts are presumed to be the result of asymmetrical erosion of the pockmark flanks caused by passing sediment gravity flows. While some pockmarks occur in chains, most are not clustered or randomly spaced but are regularly dispersed within the pockmark field. We hypothesize that intermittent, unconfined sediment gravity flows occurring over at least the last 280,000 years are the source of the regionally continuous turbidite deposits and the mechanism that maintained the regularly dispersed pockmarks. Plain Language Summary: Over 5,000 pockmarks were mapped in water depths between 500 and 1,500 m offshore Central California in an area slated to host a wind farm. Pockmarks are large circular seafloor depressions commonly believed to be formed and maintained by methane flux. Video footage from the pockmark field, detailed maps of the seafloor, sediment cores, and images of the subsurface were collected. Importantly, no significant evidence of methane gas was found in any of the collected data sets. Instead, the subsurface profiles and sediment samples indicated that the pockmarks contain layers of fine sediment deposited slowly over time alternating with sandy layers deposited by large sediment flows. These flows appear to erode the pockmark centers, and leave behind regionally continuous sandy deposits (turbidites). Some sediment flows have caused sufficient erosion to the pockmarks flanks to simultaneously shift the position of multiple pockmarks, 10s of kilometers apart. Most of the pockmarks are not randomly scattered or clustered on the seafloor but are distributed in a regular, equally spaced pattern. We hypothesize that intermittent, unconfined sediment gravity flows occurring over at least the last 280,000 years are the source of the regionally continuous turbidites and the mechanism that maintained the regularly spaced pockmarks over time. Key Points: No evidence of methane venting was found in the Sur PockmarksThe persistence and lateral migration of the Sur Pockmarks are attributed to erosion and deposition during unconfined sediment gravity flowsRecurrent, regional, and unconfined sediment gravity flows have occurred in the Sur Pockmark Field for at least ∼280,000 years [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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