| Citation: |
Jian-ming Gong, Jing Liao, Yu-xi Zhang, Jie Liang, Jian-wen Chen, Nuzhat Khan, Syed Waseem Haider, 2021. Characteristics of major and trace elements in surface sediments of the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan and their implications for natural gas hydrates, China Geology, 4, 299-310. doi: 10.31035/cg2021020
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Characteristics of major and trace elements in surface sediments of the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan and their implications for natural gas hydrates
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Abstract
To accurately identify the natural gas hydrates (NGH) in the sea area of the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan, this paper presents the testing and analysis of major and trace elements in sediment samples taken from two stations (S2 and S3) in the area by the China Geological Survey. As shown by testing results, all major elements are slightly different in content between the two stations except SiO2 and CaO. This also applies to the trace elements that include Sr and Ba primarily and Cr, Ni and Zn secondarily. It can be concluded in this study that the tectonic setting of the Makran Accretionary Prism is dominated by oceanic island arc and that provenance of the Makran Accretionary Prism is dominated by felsic igneous provenance, which is at the initial weathering stage and mainly consists of granodiorite. Besides terrigenous detritus, there are sediments possibly originating from Makran-Bela Ophiolite from the northwestern part and Murray Ridge igneous rocks from the southeastern part. The V/Cr, Ni/Co, and V/(V+Ni) ratios indicate that sediments of the two stations are in an oxidation-suboxidation environment. However, the authors infer that the sedimentary environment of the sediments 3.0 m below the seafloor tends to be gradually transformed into a reduction environment by comparison with the Qiongdongnan Basin in the South China Sea where NGH has been discovered. The sediments in the Makran Accretionary Prism are rich in organic matter, with total organic carbon (TOC) content greater than 1%. According to comprehensive research, the organic matter in the sediments mainly originates from marine algae and has high TOC content, which is favorable for the formation of NGH.
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References
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Jian-ming Gong, Jing Liao, Yu-xi Zhang, Jie Liang, Jian-wen Chen, Nuzhat Khan, Syed Waseem Haider, 2021. Characteristics of major and trace elements in surface sediments of the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan and their implications for natural gas hydrates, China Geology, 4, 299-310. doi: 10.31035/cg2021020
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Figure 1.
Geotectonic location of the Makran Accretionary Prism, the study area, and sampling stations (Gong JM et al., 2018b).
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Figure 2.
Cold spring organisms and carbonate crust at Station S4 in the Makran Accretionary Prism, and a seismic profile across S4 (see Fig. 1 for its location). a‒cold spring biota; b‒mussel and paragenetic polychaetes; c‒suspected tube worms; d‒carbonate crust; e‒seismic profile across site S4; BSR‒bottom-simulating reflector.
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Figure 3.
Core photos and a seismic profile across S3 in the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan. (a‒the core of S2; b‒the core of S3; c‒seismic profile across site S3; BSR‒bottom-simulating reflector).
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Figure 4.
Standardized curves of major elements in the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan (standard element content of the upper continental crust from).
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Figure 5.
Standardized curves of trace elements in the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan (standard element content of the upper continental crust from).
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Figure 6.
Tectonic setting discrimination diagrams of the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan. a‒K2O/Na2O-SiO2 diagram (after Roser BP et al., 1986); b‒SiO2/Al2O3-K2O/Na2O diagram (after Maynard JB et al., 1982). PM‒passive continental margin; ACM‒active continental margin; ARC‒oceanic island arc margin; A1‒island arc of basaltic and andesitic detritus; A2‒island arc evolving from the felsic intrusive rock.
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Figure 7.
Standardized curves of trace elements in the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan (primitive mantle data from Taylor SR and Mclennan SM, 1985).
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Figure 8.
Discrimination diagrams of sediment provenance of the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan. a‒F1-F2 diagram (after Roser BP et al., 1988); b‒Ti/Zr-Co/Y diagram.
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Figure 9.
A-CN-K diagram of sediment provenance of the Makran Accretionary Prism, Pakistan.
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Figure 10.
V/Cr, Ni/Co, and V/(V＋Ni) ratios of S2 and S3 and V/Cr ratio of CL-1 and CL-2 in Qiongdongnan Basin of the South China Sea varying with depth (Deng YN et al., 2017).
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Figure 11.
TN, TOC, TOC/TN, and δ13CTOC vs. depth at stations S2 and S3.
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Figure 12.
Relationship of TOC/TN and δ13C of sediments from stations S2 and S3.