DANGEROUS GAS-SATURATED OBJECTS IN THE WORLD OCEAN: THE EAST SIBERIAN SEA

For the first time, the researchers performed the interpretation of the upper part of the common depth point (CDP) seismic sections in the northwestern part of the East Siberian Sea (ESS) along the 44 lines of JSC MAGE in the amount of 8200 km. They revealed 129 anomalous objects in near-bottom sediments, potentially associated with gas accumulations and channels of its subvertical migration. The average distance between these objects along the lines was 63.6 km — 5.2—6.2 times less than in the Chukchi, Laptev and Bering seas. The authors substantiate that the ESS is characterized by a significantly smaller number of gas migration channels — active faults reaching the near-bottom sediments, compared to the seas mentioned above. This is consistent with the lower neotectonic activity of the ESS and the absence of significant seismic events. In the study area, the researchers revealed a large number of depressions in the bottom relief, which are associated with the furrows of ice gouging during the transgressions-regressions of the sea and at the present stage. Significant errors in the GEBCO bathymetry database were also revealed.

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