HIGH-RESOLUTION ACOUSTIC MAPPING OF GAS CHARGED SEDIMENTS AND LIVING BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA ASSEMBLAGES FROM THE NE REGION OF THE GUANABARA BAY (RJ, BRAZIL)

This work was performed in the NE region of the Guanabara Bay, a highly impacted Brazilian coastal system, located in Rio de Janeiro State. It aimed to: i) identify and map the areas with occurrence of gas in the sediment, as well as its acoustic signature; ii) characterize the physical properties of the sediments and; iii) document the response of microbenthic organisms (living benthic foraminifera) to changes in quantity and quality of organic matter. Seismic surveys at the frequency of 12 kHz identified a large area with about 50% gas charged sediments in the study area. The main acoustic signatures of the shallow gas were black shadow and gas blanket. In addition, features related to gas seepages to the water column (acoustic plumes and pockmarks) and gas percolation within the sediments (intra-sedimentary plumes, turbidity pinnacles) were also identified. The gas has a biogenic origin and results from the high sedimentation rate between 0.03 to 0.9 cm.year -1 and from the decomposition of large amount of organic matter (10-20%). Vertical distribution of gas ranges from few centimeters to 9 m below the water-sediments interface. These occurrences are related to both gas migration from lower sedimentary layers to Holocene muds above, and to recent generation in near-surface sediments as the area display favorable conditions for gas production. Cores ranging from 150-240 cm in length have predominantly muddy sediments and variations in the P-wave velocity followed the changes in sediment density, controlled mainly by the presence of gas in sediments, bioclasts accumulation, textural variation and percentage of organic matter. The TOC content and Rock-Eval pyrolysis parameters evaluated in nine surface sediment samples indicate that good to excellent amount of organic matter associated with moderate to good source potential for gas production is present in the study area. In these areas living benthic foraminifera are of reduced diversity and density. The assemblages are largely dominated by Ammonia tepida . Statistical results evidence that areas of intense gas release affect the benthic faunas since the benthic foraminiferal assemblages are reduced in diversity and density.