Hydrocarbons in Mississippi Fan and intraslope basin sediments

Abstract

Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments of the middle and lower Mississippi Fan and two intraslope basins in the Gulf of Mexico are derived from terrestrial organic matter and thermogenic, mature hydrocarbons. The terrestrial hydrocarbon component consists primarily of terrigenous, plant biowaxes ( n-alkanes with 21 to 33 carbons). The occurrence of thermogenic hydrocarbons in immature near-surface sediments, their molecular distributions and concentration variations with depth suggest that the majority of these mature hydrocarbons have migrated from a source much deeper in the sediment column. A portion of the thermogenic hydrocarbons may be derived from recycled material and includes phenanthrene, methyl phenanthrenes, chrysene and benzopyrenes. The migrated, thermogenic hydrocarbons include normal and isoprenoid alkanes with less than 21 carbons, naphthalene, methyl naphthalenes, ethyl naphthalenes and other aromatics of similar volatility ( i.e., biphenyl, acenaphthene and fluorene). Triterpane, sterane and aromatized sterane distributions suggest that the thermogenic hydrocarbons at both sites have a common source and are overprinted with immature sediment hydrocarbons. The biomarker distributions and carbon isotopic compositions of the thermogenic hydrocarbons are atypical for petroleum produced in the Gulf of Mexico. Molecular distributions of the hydrocarbons are constant, regardless of the present depth of occurrence, suggesting that they have migrated in a separate phase. The upward migration of hydrocarbons from deeper sources is a wide-spread phenomenon in the Gulf of Mexico with several documented cases of massive seepage (visible oil) as well as the more diffuse permeation of Pleistocene sediments of the Mississippi Fan and two intraslopes reported here.