Seabed domes with circular depressions in the North Yellow Sea -- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2018,36(6):2154-2165

	Cite this paper:
	WANG Bing, ZHANG Xin, LUAN Zhendong, CHEN Chang'an, YAN Jun. Seabed domes with circular depressions in the North Yellow Sea[J]. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 2018, 36(6): 2154-2165

Seabed domes with circular depressions in the North Yellow Sea

WANG Bing^1,3, ZHANG Xin^1,2,3, LUAN Zhendong¹, CHEN Chang'an¹, YAN Jun¹

1 CAS Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment & Center of Deep Sea Research, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China;
2 Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China;
3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Abstract:

Numerous isolated shallow seabed domes with depressions were discovered in the North Yellow Sea in a high-resolution multibeam echosounder survey. Twelve domes were located within a 11 km by 17 km survey area. The domes in this area were between 0.1 m and 1.0 m high with diameters ranging from 250 to 1 700 m. They were surrounded by corresponding depressions and displayed characteristic shapes ranging from circular to elliptical. The acoustic anomalies displayed on the high resolution sub-bottom profile images demonstrated that shallow gas accumulated just beneath these domes, suggesting that the migration and accumulation of the shallow gas caused the formation of these features. Accumulation atop the seabed domes and erosion within the depressions, as indicated by the lithological features of the sediment cores, suggested that seabed bottom currents also played a role in the formation and evolution of these features. In addition, the simultaneous decrease in the chlorite and sulfate content in core d pore water samples confirmed the presence of submarine fresh/brackish groundwater, which is of interest for hydrological budgets and may be a significant component of the regional hydrologic balance. Our findings suggested that shallow gas accumulation and migration are likely coupled to localized groundwater discharge at this domed site.

Key words: seabed dome|shallow gas|North Yellow Sea|submarine fresh/brackish groundwater

Received: 2017-06-07 Revised:

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