研究人员提供了地球物理和地球化学的证据，以表明盐烟囱效应与底辟断裂共同驱动地下地下水循环系统，将溶解的无机碳、富含营养的深盆流体以及潜在的上覆海水带到深埋盐底辟的顶部。流动的流体为产甲烷古菌提供了燃料，局部增强了深层生物圈的繁荣。由此产生的生物甲烷产量的增加，以及向上的热驱动流体输送，代表了一种以前未被认识到的冷渗漏形成和调节机制。
据介绍，深海冷泉是硫化氢、甲烷和其他富含碳氢化合物的液体从海底排出的场所。它们是地球碳循环的一个重要组成部分，在碳循环中，地下碳氢化合物为广阔而贫瘠的海洋景观中，高度多样化的底栖微型和大型动物提供了能量来源。被动大陆边缘冷泉的形成常被归因于深埋的源岩产生的碳氢化合物的迁移。这些冷泉大多发生在含盐构造区，盐的运动形成了复杂的断层系统，使流体运移或形成与储层相关的密封和圈闭。盐的平流热传输也直接在这些结构上产生烟囱效应。
附：英文原文
Title: Cold seep formation from salt diapir–controlled deep biosphere oases
Author: Chowdhury, Anirban, Ventura, Gregory T., Owino, Yaisa, Lalk, Ellen J., MacAdam, Natasha, Dooma, John M., Ono, Shuhei, Fowler, Martin, MacDonald, Adam, Bennett, Robbie, MacRae, R. Andrew, Hubert, Casey R. J., Bentley, Jeremy N., Kerr, Mitchell J.
Issue&Volume: 2024-3-11
Abstract: Deep sea cold seeps are sites where hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other hydrocarbon-rich fluids vent from the ocean floor. They are an important component of Earth’s carbon cycle in which subsurface hydrocarbons form the energy source for highly diverse benthic micro- and macro-fauna in what is otherwise vast and spartan sea scape. Passive continental margin cold seeps are typically attributed to the migration of hydrocarbons generated from deeply buried source rocks. Many of these seeps occur over salt tectonic provinces, where the movement of salt generates complex fault systems that can enable fluid migration or create seals and traps associated with reservoir formation. The elevated advective heat transport of the salt also produces a chimney effect directly over these structures. Here, we provide geophysical and geochemical evidence that the salt chimney effect in conjunction with diapiric faulting drives a subsurface groundwater circulation system that brings dissolved inorganic carbon, nutrient-rich deep basinal fluids, and potentially overlying seawater onto the crests of deeply buried salt diapirs. The mobilized fluids fuel methanogenic archaea locally enhancing the deep biosphere. The resulting elevated biogenic methane production, alongside the upward heat-driven fluid transport, represents a previously unrecognized mechanism of cold seep formation and regulation.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316878121
Source: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2316878121