Geological and Hydrographic Aspects of Dissolved Methane Distribution Within Gulf of Patience, Sakhalin Island: Marine Expedition Results in Warm Season of 2024 and Remote Sensing Data
2025
Nadezhda Syrbu | Andrei Kholmogorov | Vyacheslav Lobanov | Igor Stepochkin
In the warm season of 2024, we conducted sampling and measurements of gas-geochemical parameters in seawater, including dissolved methane, helium, and hydrogen, in the Gulf of Patience and the eastern shelf of Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk during cruise 71 of R/V Akademik Oparin. We identified a large area of bottom degassing, indicating high potential for oil and gas in this region. The fields of increased methane concentrations extend from the seabed to the lower boundary of the seasonal thermocline but do not extend into deeper parts of the Sea of Okhotsk due to the strong stratification of water in the bay. Cold, dense water lies at the bottom, and warmer, less-saline water is on the surface, creating a barrier which prevents movement of dissolved methane into the upper layer. The formation of mesoscale eddies over the continental slope to the southeast of the Gulf of Patience also contributes to preventing methane reaching the water and spreading into the deep Kuril Basin during the warm season.
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