Hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico: their genesis and extents of migration to the surface and to the atmosphere

Abstract

The results of a reconnaissance survey of local areas, where a number of oil slicks are located in various regions of the Gulf of Mexico, are presented. Experimental studies using the direct-prospecting technology of frequency- resonance processing and the interpretation of satellite and photo images were carried out in order to study the features of the deep structure in the areas, where slicks are located. The results of instrumental measurements indicate that all nine survey sites in the Gulf are located above volcanoes, within which the synthesis of oil, condensate, and gas is carried out at the conditional border of 57 km. In the contours of such volcanoes, there are deep channels through which oil, condensate, and gas migrate to the upper horizons of the cross-section and can replenish the already formed deposits in hydrocarbon fields. In the absence of reliable seals over such channels, oil, condensate, and gas can migrate into the water column, and gas further into the atmosphere. During this migration, gas seeps are formed on the seabed and oil slicks on the water surface. The measurements confirmed the presence of all previously established types of volcanoes, in which conditions for the hydrocarbon synthesis exist at a depth of 57 km. These are volcanoes filled with 1) salt, 2) sedimentary rocks, 3) limestones, 4) granites, and 5) ultramafic rocks. Studies at the site near the emergency well indicate that there are a significant number of volcanoes in the Gulf, within which there are no conditions for the synthesis of hydrocarbons and amber. These are volcanoes filled with 1) dolomites, 2) marls, 3) siliceous rocks, as well as 4) basalts and 5) kimberlites. The additional evidence is obtained by instrumental measurements in favor of the deep (abiogenic) genesis of oil, condensate, and gas is of fundamental importance. Numerous facts of fixing the signals from oil, condensate, and gas at the conditional boundary of their synthesis of 57 km in the Gulf of Mexico and in other regions of the world allow us to make an assumption about the migration of abiogenic methane into the Earth’s atmosphere in colossal volumes! Methane seeps and oil slicks can serve as indicators of the activity of volcanoes in which hydrocarbons are synthesized. In these cases, drilling wells in the areas of the location of deep channels of the migration of abiogenic hydrocarbons to the upper horizons of the cross-section may be associated with great risks — with emergency situations during drilling.