MARIA S. MERIAN MSM78

Quantification of focused fluid migration through the sedimentary succession is fundamental for a large number of research themes ranging from the assessment of geological climate controls and slope stability to verify applied question such as where hydrocarbons accumulate and how safe CO2 storage is. Although seismic pipes and chimneys are common features in seismic reflection data and their interpretation as focused fluid flow conduits is well-established, investigations of their nature and in particular the permeability are not focused sufficiently yet.

The main scientific goals of this project are
a) Firstly to constrain the bulk permeability of an existing chimney structure, i.e. to assess the amount of aqueous and gassy fluids that may move through these structures over time.
b) Secondly, we would like to constrain the temporal evolution of fluid migration through pipe structures over time, i.e. do they transport fluids continuously or episodically and if episodically is it likely that CO2 storage may initiate a new episode of migration.
c) Thirdly, we would like to test the hypothesis that chimney structures in seismic data represent indeed fault networks created by hydro-fracturing and not bulk mobilization of sediments as a diaper or subsidence of sediments in the style of a breccia pipe.

These goals will be met by combining geophysical and geochemistry observations. The cruise ist part of the STEMM-CSS project.