Life at Cold Seeps: A Synthesis of Biogeochemical and Ecological Data from Kazan Mud Volcano, Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Recent field observations have identified the widespread occurrence of fluid seepage through the eastern Mediterranean Sea floor in association with mud volcanism or along deep faults. Gas hydrates and methane seeps are frequently found in cold seep areas and were anticipated targets of the MEDINAUT/MEDINETH initiatives. The study presented herein has utilized a multi-disciplinary approach incorporating observations and sampling of visually selected sites by the manned submersible Nautile and by ship-based sediment coring and geophysical surveys. The study focuses on the biogeochemical and ecological processes and conditions related to methane seepage, especially the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), associated with ascending fluids on Kazan mud volcano in the eastern Mediterranean. Sampling of adjacent box cores for studies on the microbiology, biomarkers, pore water and solid phase geochemistry allowed us to integrate different biogeochemical data within a spatially highly heterogeneous system. Geophysical results clearly indicate the spatial heterogeneity of mud volcano environments. Results from pore water geochemistry and modeling efforts indicate that the rate of AOM is 6 mol m-2 year-1, which is lower than at active seep sites associated with conditions of focused flow, but greater than diffusion-dominated sites. Furthermore, under the non-focused flow conditions at Kazan mud volcano advective flow velocities are of the order of a few centimeters per year and gas hydrate formation is predicted to occur at a sediment depth of about 2 m and below. The methane flux through these sediments supports a large and diverse community of micro- and macrobiota, as demonstrated by carbon isotopic measurements on bulk organic matter, authigenic carbonates, specific biomarker compounds, and macrofaunal tissues...

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Date (Publication)
2004-01-01T00:00:00
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/69611

Citation identifier
Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2003.12.031

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Author

Werne, J.P.

 1
Author

Haese, R.R.

 2
Author

Zitter, T.

 3
Author

Aloisi, G.

 4
Author

Bouloubassi, I.

 5
Author

Heijis, S.

 6
Author

Fiala-Medioni, A.

 7
Author

Pancost, R.D.

 8
Author

Sinninghe Damste, J.S.

 9
Author

de Lange, G.J.

 10
Author

Forney, L.J.

 11
Author

Gottschal, J.C.

 12
Author

Foucher, J.P.

 13
Author

Mascle, J.

 14
Author

Woodside, J.

 15
Author

Medinaut/Medineth Shipboard Scienc

 16
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EGD
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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

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Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

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N
S
E
W


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Unknown
Keywords

  • External Publication

  • Scientific Journal Paper

Theme

  • volcanology

  • marine

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

  • Earth Sciences

Keywords

  • Published_External

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

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CC-BY

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4.0

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

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2018-11-01T00:00:00
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https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

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Unclassified
Language
English
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UTF8

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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

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OnLine resource

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Non geographic dataset
Other

External Publication

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Source data not available.

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/a05f7892-ee2d-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
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Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

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Document
Name

nonGeographicDataset

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/69611

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https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/a05f7892-ee2d-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Date info (Revision)
2018-04-22T08:22:18
Date info (Creation)
2009-10-07T00:00:00

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

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N
S
E
W


Keywords

marine volcanology

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