Submarine canyon systems focusing sub-surface fluid in the Canterbury Basin, South Island, New Zealand

Abstract

This work uses a high-quality 3D seismic volume from offshore Canterbury Basin, New Zealand, to investigate how submarine canyon systems can focus sub-surface fluid. The seismic volume was structurally conditioned to improve the contrast in seismic reflections, preserving their lateral continuity. It reveals multiple pockmarks, eroded gullies and intra-slope lobe complexes occurring in association with the Waitaki Submarine Canyon. Pockmarks are densely clustered on the northern bank of the canyon and occur at a water depth of 500–900 m. In parallel, near-seafloor strata contain channel-fill deposits, channel lobes, meandering channel belts and overbank sediments deposited downslope of the submarine canyon. We propose that subsurface fluid migrates from relatively deep Cretaceous strata through shallow channel-fill deposits and lobes to latter seep out through the canyon and associated gullies. The new, reprocessed Fluid Cube meta-attribute confirms that fluids have seeped out through the eroded walls of the Waitaki Canyon, with such a seepage generating seafloor depressions in its northern bank. Our findings stress the importance of shallow reservoirs (channel-fill deposits and lobes) as potential repositories for fluid, hydrocarbons, or geothermal energy on continental margins across the world.