Ultrahigh-Resolution 3-Dimensional Seismic Imaging of Seeps from the Continental Slope of the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Subsurface, Seafloor and Into the Water Column

Utilizing recently advanced ultrahigh-resolution 3-dimensional (UHR3D) seismic tools we have imaged the seafloor geomorphology and associated subsurface aspects of seep related expulsion features along the continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico with unprecedented clarity and continuity. Over an area of approximately 400 km², over 50 discrete features were identified and three general seafloor geomorphologies indicative of seep activity including mounds, depressions and bathymetrically complex features were quantitatively characterized. Moreover, areas of high seafloor reflectivity indicative of mineralization and areas of coherent seismic amplitude anomalies in the near-seafloor water column indicative of active gas expulsion were identified. In association with these features, shallow source gas accumulations and migration pathways based on salt related stratigraphic uplift and faulting were imaged. Shallow, bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) interpreted to be free gas trapped under near seafloor gas hydrate accumulations were very clearly imaged.