Both Longitudinal and Transverse Extension Controlling Gas Migration Through Submarine Anticlinal Ridges, New Zealand's Southern Hikurangi Margin

Abstract

AbstractSub‐seabed fluid flow, gas hydrate accumulation and seafloor methane seepage are tightly interwoven processes with implications for marine biodiversity, ocean chemistry and seafloor stability. We combine long‐offset seismic reflection data with high‐resolution seismic data to investigate shallow structural deformation and its relationship to focused gas migration and hydrate accumulation in the southern Hikurangi subduction wedge. Anticlines, effective traps for focusing free gas, are characterized by both normal faults and vertical zones of hydraulic fracturing within the hydrate stability zone. The normal faults form as a result of sediment layer folding and gravitational collapse of ridges during uplift. We document both longitudinal (ridge‐parallel) and transverse (ridge‐perpendicular) extensional structures (normal faults and elongated hydraulic fracture zones) in the sub‐seafloor of anticlinal ridges. Intriguingly, gas flow through ridges close to the deformation front of the wedge exploits longitudinal structures, while ridges further inboard are characterized by gas flow along transverse structures. This highlights pronounced changes in the shallow deformation of ridges in different parts of the wedge, associated with a switching of the least and intermediate principal stress directions. It is critical to understand these shallow stress fields because they control fluid flow patterns and methane seepage out of the seafloor.