HR: 14:10h
AN: B53C-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Carbonate-cemented hardgrounds: a subtle indicator for seep activity offshore Humboldt Bay
AU: * Shapiro, R S
EM: rsshapiro@csuchico.edu
AF: CSU Chico, Department of Geosciences, 400 West First Street, Chico, CA 95929, United States
AU: Bazard, D
EM: Dave-Bazard@redwoods.edu
AF: Department of Science, College of the Redwoods, 7351 Tompkins Hill Road, Eureka, CA 95501, United States
AB: Active hydrocarbon seeps are common in the accretionary prism of the Cascadia subduction zone. In Humboldt County, California, the prism is exposed at the surface as a series of fault-propagated anticlines trending NW-SE. Offshore of the town of Samoa, a northwest-plunging anticline is breached at approximately 40 meters water depth, allowing hydrocarbons to seep out to the seafloor (40.8° N, 124.25° W). The assumed microbial activity at the seep leads to the production of interstitial carbonate cements forming hardgrounds. Cementation is pervasive and blocks eroded from the seep area of the seabed are transported onshore during storm events. Blocks collected from the beach range from 3—40 centimeters across. The sediments of the blocks are palimpsest transgressive deposits composed mostly of immature fine sand, but ranging from very fine to rounded gravels 4 cm diameter. Cementation is not dependent on grain size as all of the sediment sizes are cemented. In rare void spaces, a concentric banding of cements is obvious. The interstitial cements preserve original sedimentary structures including graded beds and high-angle cross-beds. Centimeter-scale subspherical concretions occur on the undersides of some blocks. There is no disruption of bedding in contrast to other seeps where the expulsion of gas can create pockmarks, brecciation, and other disturbances. Unlike the better studied seeps farther south in the Eel River basin, the Samoa seeps do not seem to host a rich chemosynthetic fauna. Whole and (mostly) fragmented shells preserved by the cemented sands represent a typical benthic inner shelf community including Dendraster, Macoma, and Olivella. Burrows preserved in the sands are largely horizontal and 1—2 mm diameter. Seep carbonate-cemented hardgrounds are less well studied then the more obvious meter-scale ‘chemoherm' deposits. However, they may be more prevalent in the rock record and provide a new proxy for locating ancient seeps and hydrocarbon conduits.
DE: 4800 OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL (0460)
DE: 4811 Chemosynthesis
DE: 4840 Microbiology and microbial ecology (0465)
DE: 8169 Sedimentary basin processes
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting