Hydrate dissolution as a potential mechanism for pockmark formation in the Niger delta

Based on acquired geophysical, geological and geotechnical data and modeling, we suggest hydrate dissolution to cause sediment collapse and pockmark formation in the Niger delta. Very high-resolution bathymetry data acquired from the Niger delta reveal the morphology of pockmarks with different shapes and sizes going from a small ring depression surrounding an irregular floor to more typical pockmarks with uniform depression. Geophysical data, in situ piezocone measurements, piezometer measurements and sediment cores demonstrate the presence of a common internal architecture of the studied pockmarks: inner sediments rich in gas hydrates surrounded by overpressured sediments. The temperature, pressure and salinity conditions of the studied area have allowed us to exclude the process of gas-hydrate dissociation (gas hydrate turns into free gas/water mixture) as a trigger of the observed pockmarks. Based on numerical modeling, we demonstrate that gas-hydrate dissolution (gas hydrate becomes mixture of water and dissolved gas) under a local decrease of the gas concentration at the base of the gas-hydrate occurrence zone (GHOZ) can explain the excess pore pressure and fluid flow surrounding the central hydrated area and the sediment collapse at the border of the GHOZ. The different deformation (or development) stages of the detected pockmarks confirm that a local process such as the amount of gas flow through faults rather than a regional one is at the origin of those depressions.