Table1_New cold seep sites on the continental slope southwest to Svalbard.xlsx

• Main Authors: V. K. Bellec, S. Chand, J. Knies, L. R. Bjarnadóttir, A. Lepland, A. Sen, T. Thorsnes
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: Solid Earth Sciences; Climate Science; Atmospheric Sciences not elsewhere classified; Exploration Geochemistry; Inorganic Geochemistry; Isotope Geochemistry; Organic Geochemistry; Geochemistry not elsewhere classified; Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology; Ore Deposit Petrology; Palaeontology (incl. Palynology); Structural Geology; Tectonics; Volcanology; Geology not elsewhere classified; Seismology and Seismic Exploration; Glaciology; Hydrogeology; Natural Hazards; Quaternary Environments; Earth Sciences not elsewhere classified; Evolutionary Impacts of Climate Change; cold seeps; Barents Sea; Svalbard margin; continental slope; Storfjorden trough mouth fan; Hornsund; Storfjorden; Svalbard
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2024.1328357.s001; https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Table1_New_cold_seep_sites_on_the_continental_slope_southwest_to_Svalbard_xlsx/25568022

We discovered seafloor features such as bacterial mats and carbonate crusts typical for active methane seeps on the continental slope southwest of Svalbard. These features are associated with two main northwest-southeast trending morphological structures that are oriented parallel to the regional continental slope. Both structures occur at c. 800 m water depth, at the boundary between the Storfjorden trough mouth fan to the south and the Hornsund trough mouth fan to the north, which suggests a loading related fluid seepage. The main structure displays depressions and ridges forming a crater in its center. Other occurring features include small sediment mounds, domes often covered by bacterial mats, and hummocky seafloor colonized by siboglinid tubeworms. Free gas bubbles were spotted close to the centre and plumes along the rims of the structure. Thick carbonate crusts indicate a long seepage history in the center of the structure and on top of the ridges. The sources of the seeps are likely to be Miocene old organic-rich deposits, or Paleocene hydrocarbon reservoirs.