Hydrocarbons in Canned Muds from Sites 185, 186, 189, and 191—Leg 19

Acoustic evidence for gas-charged sediment in the abyssal Aleutian Basin, Bering Sea, Alaska

“…The basement topography of buried ridges and broad basement highs throughout the basin, together with the presence of faults, suggests that trapping mechanisms may exist for migrating hydrocarbons. The lower mudstone beds may serve as a source for hydrocarbon production (Mclver, 1973), and the diatomaceous section immediately above as a reservoir. Kvenvolden and Redden (1980) analyzed 2-m long gravity cores obtained from the Aleutian Basin for hydrocarbon gas concentrations.…”

Residual Hydrocarbon Gases in Canned Core Material from Holes 379A and 380A, Leg 42B

“…The nine samples from Leg 42B were analyzed by our standard procedures (Mclver, 1973). Results are listed, together with sample locations and organic carbon contents, in Table 1.…”

“…In order to find out more about the gases, the DSDP Advisory Panel on Organic Geochemistry recommended that small portions of some of the cores be sealed in metal cans immediately after their recovery on deck so that at least the quantity of gas remaining in the sediment (i.e., residual gas) could be determined by methods established for drill cuttings (Mclver, 1973). Of course, some of the gas is lost during the trip to the deck and subsequent handling, but the amounts have revealed the order-of-magnitude level of gases in place, as well as local variations.…”

Residual Gas Contents of Organic-Rich Canned Sediment Samples from Leg 23

“…As part of the continuing program to determine residual gas contents of occasional canned sediment samples from the Deep Sea Drilling Project, six such samples from two sites of Leg 23 were acquired. Organic carbon and residual gas content and composition were determined on these by the same procedures used on previous gas samples (Mclver, 1973a). Because of their relatively high organic contents, the samples were also extracted with organic solvents to determine the amount and nature of the bitumens (by previously reported techniques- Gehman, 1962;Koons and Monaghan, 1969).…”