The UK22/4b blowout 20 years on: Investigations of continuing methane emissions from sub-seabed to the atmosphere in a North Sea context

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• 作者：Ira Leifer^a ; ^{ira.leifer@bubbleology.com" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author} ; Alan Judd^b
• 关键词：Blowout ; North sea ; UK22/4b ; Methane seep ; Atmospheric methane ; Bubble flux ; Plume processes ; Microbial oxidation ; Upwelling ; Remote sensing ; Inverse modeling ; Bubble ; Acoustic ; Monitoring ; Eruption ; Thermocline ; Benthic filter
• 刊名：Marine and Petroleum Geology
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：December 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：68
• 期：part_PB
• 页码：706-717
• 全文大小：3607 K

文摘

The 22/4b blowout occurred in the UK sector of the North Sea in November 1990, but during a survey in September 2011 strong gas emissions still were occurring. This manuscript summarizes the findings of the 2011 survey and subsequent studies, considering them in the context of previous investigations, and the regional geologic and oceanographic environments.

The seabed crater formed during the initial event is still there, as is a previously-undiscovered secondary crater. Seabed bubble flux estimates indicate methane emission rates of 90 L s⁻¹ at the time; however, this methane's fate(s) remains unclear. The very strong thermocline that persists for more than half the year acts as an effective barrier to upward migration, despite the presence of strong upwelling flows around the bubble plume. Clearly a large proportion of the methane is advected away from the site to be either oxidized microbially in the water column, or released to the atmosphere as a result of normal sea:air gas exchange processes. Nevertheless, a significant atmospheric methane anomaly persists in the vicinity of the blowout site. This has been constrained to likely less than 0.72 Mscfd (5 kTon yr⁻¹) and possibly less than 0.36 Mscfd (2.5 kton yr⁻¹).

During the late-fall to early spring months (when there is no thermocline), direct methane emissions to the atmosphere are expected to increase significantly. Also, long-term monitoring has shown that periodic eruptive events occur, which likely expel great quantities of methane. These demonstrate the dynamic nature of the system and suggest that migration pathways in and between the deep sub-seabed and seabed remain active.

The 22/4b Study resulted in the development and adaptation of novel techniques that are applicable to other studies of seabed seepage and the development of a number of critical hypotheses with application to megaplume seepage by natural migration pathways or from the result of anthropogenic intervention.