Dynamics of Gas Bubbles From a Submarine Hydrocarbon Seep Within the Hydrate Stability Zone uri icon

abstract

  • AbstractWe validate a new model for mass transfer and bubble transport for natural seeps on the continental margins using an integrated observation of a seep at 883 m in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. In the model, mass transfer is assumed to transition from clean to dirty bubble mass transfer rates following a characteristic hydrate formation time that depends on the initial bubble surface area and the hydrate subcooling. We show that buoyancyinduced upwelling is negligible for the bubble stream. We initialize the model using precise data observed at the seafloor and validate the model results to optical and acoustic measurements within the bubble stream. The model accurately predicts the acoustic attenuation of the bubble flare by lateral spreading and bubble shrinkage throughout the water column. The model shows that up to 99.4% by mass of the released gases from this seep dissolves into the ocean within the hydrate stability zone.

published proceedings

  • GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS

author list (cited authors)

  • Wang, B., Jun, I., Socolofsky, S. A., DiMarco, S. F., & Kessler, J. D.

complete list of authors

  • Wang, Binbin||Jun, Inok||Socolofsky, Scott A||DiMarco, Steven F||Kessler, John D