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Release of Greenhouse Gases in Hydrothermal Vent Complexes Causing Global Warming
S. Planke
(1,2), H. Svensen (2), A. Malthe-Sørenssen (2), S. S. Rey (1), B. Jamtveit
(2) and C. Berndt (3) (1) Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research (VBPR), Oslo, Norway,
(2) Physics of Geological
Processes (PGP), University of Oslo, Norway, (3) Southampton Oceanography Centre,
Southampton, U.K.
Hydrothermal vent complexes are pipe-like structures formed by explosive release
of liquids and fluids during magmatic sill emplacement in sedimentary basins. We
have recently completed an extensive seismic mapping of Paleocene/Eocene sills and
hydrothermal vent complexes on the North East Atlantic margins. The extent of the
mapped sill complex in the Vøring and Møre basins offshore mid-Norway is >80,000
km^2 with an estimated total volume of 0.9 to 2.5 x 10^4 km^3; and similar structures
exist in the Faeroe Shetland Basin. We have further mapped 766 hydrothermal vent
complexes connecting the sill intrusions with the paleosurface. Extrapolating between
the seismic lines we estimate that just in the two basins of the mid-Norwegian margin
at least 2-3000 vent complexes exist. New biostratigraphic dating reveals that most
of the sill and vent complexes were formed at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary, almost
coeval with the beginning of the initial Eocene thermal maximum (IETM). The
magma emplacement caused heating of the surrounding sedimentary strata and production
of greenhouse gases. These gases were released through hydrothermal vent
complexes. We have calculated that the total methane production potential in metamorphic
aureoles in Vøring and Møre basins is in the range of 0.3 to 3.3 x 10^18 g
CH4 assuming that 0.5 to 2.0 wt. % organic carbon was converted to methane. The
methane production potential in the entire NAVP is estimated to be about five times
greater. The total volume of methane produced in metamorphic aureoles in NAVP is
larger than the volumes required for explaining the IETM and the associated light
carbon isotope excursion, provided the greenhouse gases were produced and released
in a short time ( 10,000 years). Although the limited information from the Faeroe Shetland
Basin suggest that not all the sills were emplaced synchronously, the bulk of the
field and seismic data combined with melt modelling support that very voluminous sill
complexes were intruded and solidified in a short time span (>1000 years) during the
initial phase of volcanic activity.
(Note the implications for the Genesis Flood timeline
some 4,500 years ago.)
HTV Greenhouse Gases.pdf
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