Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Warm brine lakes in craters of active mud volcanoes, Menes caldera off NW Egypt: evidence for deep-rooted thermogenic processes

  • Original
  • Published:
Geo-Marine Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Menes caldera is a fault-controlled depression (~8 km in diameter) at ~3,000 m water depth in the western province of the Nile deep-sea fan off NW Egypt, comprising seven mud volcanoes (MVs) of which two are active. Based on multichannel and chirp seismic data, temperature profiles, and high-resolution bathymetric data collected during the 2000 Fanil, 2004 Mimes and 2007 Medeco2 expeditions, the present study investigates factors controlling MV morphology, the geometry of feeder channels, and the origin of emitted fluids. The active Cheops and Chephren MVs are 1,500 m wide with subcircular craters at their summits, about 250 m in diameter, generally a few tens of metres deep, and filled with methane-rich muddy brines with temperatures reaching 42 °C and 57 °C respectively. Deployments of CTDs and corers with attached temperature sensors tracked these warm temperatures down to almost 0.5 km depth below the brine lake surface at the Cheops MV, in a feeder channel probably only a few tens of metres wide. Thermogenic processes involve the dissolution of Messinian evaporites by warm fluids likely sourced even deeper, i.e. 1.7 and 2.6 km below the seabed at the Cheops and Chephren MVs respectively, and which ascend along listric faults. Seepage activity appears broadly persistent since the initiation of mud volcanism in the Early Pliocene, possibly accompanied by lateral migration of feeder channels.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aal AA, El Barkooky A, Gerrits M, Meyer HJ, Schwander M, Zaki H (2001) Tectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean Basin and its significance for the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Nile Delta deepwater area. GeoArabia (Manama) 6(3):363–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Aiello IW, Zabel M, Hinrichs K-U, Teske A, Goldhammer T, Elvert M, Heuer S (2012) An expanded seafloor in the brine lake of Urania Basin: a new deep-water marine environment. In: Abstr Vol 11th Int Conf Gas in Marine Sediments, 4–7 September 2012, Nice, France, pp 18–19

  • Bayon G, Loncke L, Dupré S, Caprais JC, Ducassou E, Duperron S, Etoubleau J, Foucher JP, Fouquet Y, Gontharet S, Henderson GM, Huguen C, Klaucke I, Mascle J, Migeon S, Olu-Le Roy K, Ondréas H, Pierre C, Sibuet M, Stadnitskaia A, Woodside J (2009) Multi-disciplinary investigation of fluid seepage on an unstable margin: the case of the Central Nile deep sea fan. Mar Geol 261(1/4):92–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayon G, Dupré S, Ponzevera E, Etoubleau J, Cheron S, Pierre C, Mascle J, Boetius A, de Lange GJ (2013) Formation of carbonate chimneys in the Mediterranean Sea linked to deep-water oxygen depletion. Nature Geosci 6:755–760. doi:10.1038/ngeo1888

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellaiche G, Loncke L, Gaullier V, Mascle J, Courp T, Moreau A, Radan S, Sardou O (2001) Le cône sous-marin du Nil et son réseau de chenaux profonds; nouveaux résultats (campagne Fanil). C R Acad Sci II Sci Terre Planètes 333(7):399–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentham P, Pasley M, Birt C (2006) The style and timing of mud volcanism in the offshore Nile Delta, Egypt. In: Abstr Vol AAPG/GSTT Hedberg Conf Mobile Shale Basins - Genesis, Evolution and Hydrocarbon Systems, 4–7 June 2006, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago

  • Bernard B, Potter J, Brooks J, Shedd W, Petersen C, Bright M, Goehring L, Cordes E, Hourdez S, Hunt J Jr, Kupchik M, Becker E, Joye S, Bowles M, Carney R, Fisher C, Nelson K, Boland G, Samarkin V, Bernier M, Telesnicki G, Lessard-Pilon S, MacDonald I, Niemann H (2007) Alvin explores the deep Northern Gulf of Mexico slope. Eos Trans Am Geophys Union 88:35. doi:10.1029/2007EO350001

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonini M (2008) Elliptical mud volcano caldera as stress indicator in an active compressional setting (Nirano, Pede-Apennine margin, northern Italy). Geology 36(2):131–134. doi:10.1130/G24158A.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borin S, Brusetti L, Mapelli F, D’Auria G, Brusa T, Marzorati M, Rizzi A, Yakimov M, Marty D, de Lange GJ, Van der Wielen P, Bolhuis H, McGenity TJ, Polymenakou PN, Malinverno E, Giuliano L, Corselli C, Daffonchio D (2009) Sulfur cycling and methanogenesis primarily drive microbial colonization of the highly sulfidic Urania deep hypersaline basin. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106(23):9151–9156. doi:10.1073/pnas.0811984106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourry C, Chazallon B, Charlou JL, Pierre Donval J, Ruffine L, Henry P, Geli L, Çagatay MN, Inan S, Moreau M (2009) Free gas and gas hydrates from the Sea of Marmara, Turkey: chemical and structural characterization. Chem Geol 264(1/4):197–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caméra L, Ribodetti A, Mascle J (2010) Deep structures and seismic stratigraphy of the Egyptian continental margin from multichannel seismic data. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 341(1):85–97. doi:10.1144/SP341.5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camerlenghi A, Cita MB, Hieke W, Ricchiuto T (1992) Geological evidence for mud diapirism on the Mediterranean Ridge accretionary complex. Earth Planet Sci Lett 109(3/4):493–504. doi:10.1016/0012-821x(92)90109-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capozzi R, Picotti V (2002) Fluid migration and origin of a mud volcano in the Northern Apennines (Italy); the role of deeply rooted normal faults. Terra Nova 14(5):363–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlou JL, Donval JP, Zitter T, Roy N, Jean-Baptiste P, Foucher JP, Woodside JM (2003) Evidence of methane venting and geochemistry of brines on mud volcanoes of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Deep Sea Res I Oceanogr Res Papers 50(8):941–958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cita MB (2006) Exhumation of Messinian evaporites in the deep-sea and creation of deep anoxic brine-filled collapsed basins. Sediment Geol 188:357–378. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2006.03.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cita MB, Ryan WBF, Paggi L (1981) Prometheus mud breccia; an example of shale diapirism in the Western Mediterranean Ridge. Ann Géol Pays Hélléniques 30:543–570

    Google Scholar 

  • Corselli C, Basso D, de Lange G, Thomson J (1996) Mediterranean Ridge Accretionary Complex yields rich surprises. Eos Trans Am Geophys Union 77(24):227–227. doi:10.1029/96EO00159

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies RJ, Stewart SA (2005) Emplacement of giant mud volcanoes in the south Caspian Basin; 3D seismic reflection imaging of their root zones. J Geol Soc Lond 162(1):1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Lange GJ, Boelrijk N, Catalano G, Corselli C, Klinkhammer GP, Middelburg JJ, Muller DW, Ullman WJ, Vangaans P, Woittiez JRW (1990) Sulfate-related equilibria in the hypersaline brines of the Tyro and Bannock Basins, eastern Mediterranean. Mar Chem 31(1/3):89–112. doi:10.1016/s0304-4203(05)80006-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Lange G, Mastalerz V, Dählmann A, Haese R, Mascle J, Woodside JM, Foucher J-P, Lykousis V, Michard A (2006) Geochemical composition and origin for fluid and gas fluxes at Eastern Mediterranean mud volcanoes. In: CIESM Worksh Monogr Fluids seepages / mud volcanism in the Mediterranean and adjacent domains, vol 29, pp 103–110

  • Deville E, Guerlais SH (2009) Cyclic activity of mud volcanoes: evidences from Trinidad (SE Caribbean). Mar Petrol Geol 26(9):1681–1691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deville E, Battani A, Griboulard R, Guerlais S, Herbin JP, Houzay JP, Muller C, Prinzhofer A (2003) The origin and processes of mud volcanism; new insights from Trinidad. Geol Soc Spec Publ 216:475–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deville E, Guerlais S-H, Callec Y, Griboulard R, Huyghe P, Lallemant S, Mascle A, Noble M, Schmitz J (2006) Liquefied vs stratified sediment mobilization processes: insight from the south of the Barbados accretionary prism. Tectonophysics 428(1/4):33–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dimitrov L, Woodside J (2003) Deep sea pockmark environments in the eastern Mediterranean. Mar Geol 195(1/4):263–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolson JC, Shann MV, Matbouly S, Harwood C, Rashed R, Hammouda H (2001) The petroleum potential of Egypt. AAPG Memoir 74:453–482

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolson JC, Boucher PJ, Dodd T, Ismail J (2002) Petroleum potential of an emerging giant gas province, Nile Delta and Mediterranean Sea off Egypt. Oil Gas J 100(20):32–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Duperron S, Halary S, Lorion J, Sibuet M, Gail F (2008) Unexpected co-occurrence of six bacterial symbionts in the gills of the cold seep mussel Idas sp. (Bivalvia: Mytilidae). Environ Microbiol 10:433–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupré S, Woodside J, Foucher J-P, de Lange G, Mascle J, Boetius A, Mastalerz V, Stadnitskaia A, Ondréas H, Huguen C, Harmegnies F, Gontharet S, Loncke L, Deville E, Niemann H, Omoregie E, Olu-Le Roy K, Fiala-Medioni A, Dählmann A, Caprais J-C, Prinzhofer A, Sibuet M, Pierre C, Sinninghe Damsté J, NAUTINIL scientific party (2007) Seafloor geological studies above active gas chimneys off Egypt (Central Nile Deep Sea Fan). Deep Sea Res I Oceanogr Res Papers 54(7):1146–1172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupré S, Brosolo L, Mascle J, Pierre C, Harmegnies F, Mastalerz V, Bayon G, Ducassou E, De Lange G, Foucher J-P, the Victor ROV Team, the Medeco Leg 2 Scientific Party (2008a) The Menes mud volcano caldera complex: an exceptional site of brine seepage in the deep waters off north-western Egypt. In: Abstr Vol 9th Int Conf Gas in Marine Sediments, 15–19 September 2008, Bremen, Germany, pp 21–22

  • Dupré S, Buffet G, Mascle J, Foucher J-P, Gauger S, Boetius A, Marfia C, the AsterX AUV Team, the Quest ROV Team, the BIONIL Scientific Party (2008b) High-resolution mapping of large gas emitting mud volcanoes on the Egyptian continental margin (Nile Deep Sea Fan) by AUV surveys. Mar Geophys Res 29(4):275–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupré S, Woodside J, Klaucke I, Mascle J, Foucher J-P (2010) Widespread active seepage activity on the Nile Deep Sea Fan (offshore Egypt) revealed by high-definition geophysical imagery. Mar Geol 275(1/4):1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans RJ, Stewart SA, Davies RJ (2008) The structure and formation of mud volcano summit calderas. J Geol Soc 165:769–780. doi:10.1144/0016-76492007-118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feseker T, Dählmann A, Foucher JP, Harmegnies F (2009) In-situ sediment temperature measurements and geochemical porewater data suggest highly dynamic fluid flow at Isis mud volcano, eastern Mediterranean Sea. Mar Geol 261(1/4):128–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feseker T, Brown KR, Blanchet C, Scholz F, Nuzzo M, Reitz A, Schmidt M, Hensen C (2010) Active mud volcanoes on the upper slope of the western Nile deep-sea fan—first results from the P362/2 cruise of R/V Poseidon. Geo-Mar Lett 30:169–186. doi:10.1007/s00367-010-0192-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucher J-P, Westbrook GK, Boetius A, Ceramicola S, Dupré S, Mascle J, Mienert J, Pfannkuche O, Pierre C, Praeg D (2009) Structure and drivers of hydrocarbon seep ecosystems in the European seas: an overview from HERMES results. Oceanography 22(1):92–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucher J-P, Dupré S, Scalabrin C, Feseker T, Harmegnies F, Nouzé H (2010) Changes in seabed morphology, mud temperature and free gas venting at the Håkon Mosby mud volcano, offshore northern Norway, over the time period 2003–2006. Geo-Mar Lett 30:157–167. doi:10.1007/s00367-010-0193-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaullier V, Mart Y, Bellaiche G, Mascle J, Vendeville BC, Zitter T, Benkhelil J, Buffet G, Droz L, Ergun M, Huguen C, Kopf A, Levy R, Limnov A, Shaked Y, Volkonskaia A, Woodside JM, Prismed II Second Leg Scientific Party France (2000) Salt tectonics in and around the Nile deep-sea fan; insights from the PRISMED II cruise. Geol Soc Spec Publ 174:111–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gay A, Lopez M, Berndt C, Séranne M (2007) Geological controls on focused fluid flow associated with seafloor seeps in the Lower Congo Basin. Mar Geol 244(1/4):68–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giresse P, Loncke L, Huguen C, Muller C, Mascle J (2010) Nature and origin of sedimentary clasts associated with mud volcanoes in the Nile deep-sea fan. Relationships with fluid venting. Sediment Geol 228(3/4):229–245. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2010.04.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gontharet S, Pierre C, Blanc-Valleron MM, Rouchy JM, Fouquet Y, Bayon G, Foucher JP, Woodside J, Mascle J (2007) Nature and origin of diagenetic carbonate crusts and concretions from mud volcanoes and pockmarks of the Nile deep-sea fan (eastern Mediterranean Sea). Deep Sea Res II Topical Studies Oceanogr 54(11/13):1292–1311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann M, Scholten JC, Stoffers P, Wehner F (1998) Hydrographic structure of brine-filled deeps in the Red Sea—new results from the Shaban, Kebrit, Atlantis II, and Discovery Deep. Mar Geol 144(4):311–330. doi:10.1016/S0025-3227(97)00055-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ho S, Cartwright JA, Imbert P (2012) Vertical evolution of fluid venting structures in relation to gas flux, in the Neogene-Quaternary of the Lower Congo Basin, Offshore Angola. Mar Geol 332(334):40–55. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2012.08.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsü KJ, Cita MB, Ryan WBF (1973) The origin of the Mediterranean evaporites. In: Initial Reports Deep Sea Drilling Project 13, Part 2, pp 1203–1231, College Station, TX

  • Huguen C, Mascle J, Woodside J, Zitter T, Foucher JP (2005) Mud volcanoes and mud domes of the Central Mediterranean Ridge: near-bottom and in situ observations. Deep Sea Res I Oceanogr Res Papers 52(10):1911–1931

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huguen C, Foucher JP, Mascle J, Ondréas H, Thouement M, Gontharet S, Stadnitskaia A, Pierre C, Bayon G, Loncke L, Boetius A, Bouloubassi I, de Lange G, Caprais JC, Fouquet Y, Woodside J, Dupré S (2009) Menes caldera, a highly active site of brine seepage in the Eastern Mediterranean sea: “in situ” observations from the NAUTINIL expedition (2003). Mar Geol 261(1/4):138–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joye SB, MacDonald IR, Montoya JP, Peccini M (2005) Geophysical and geochemical signatures of Gulf of Mexico seafloor brines. Biogeosciences 2:295–309. doi:10.5194/bg-2-295-2005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joye SB, Samarkin VA, Orcutt BN, MacDonald IR, Hinrichs K-U, Elvert M, Teske AP, Lloyd KG, Lever MA, Montoya JP, Meile CD (2009) Metabolic variability in seafloor brines revealed by carbon and sulphur dynamics. Nature Geosci 2:349–354. doi:10.1038/ngeo475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Judd AG, Hovland M (2007) Seabed fluid flow. The impact on geology, biology and the marine environment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kadirov FA, Mukhtarov AS (2004) Geophysical fields, deep structure, and dynamics of the Lokbatan mud volcano. Russian Acad Sci Phys Solid Earth 40(4):327–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Kopf AJ (2002) Significance of mud volcanism. Rev Geophys 40(2):2-1–2–52. doi:10.1029/2000RG000093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kopf A, Robertson AHF, Clennell MB, Flecker R (1998) Mechanisms of mud extrusion on the Mediterranean Ridge Accretionary Complex. Geo-Mar Lett 18:97–114. doi:10.1007/s003670050058

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lance S, Henry P, Le Pichon X, Lallemant S, Chamley H, Rostek F, Faugères J-C, Gonthier E, Olu K (1998) Submersible study of mud volcanoes seaward of the Barbados accretionary wedge: sedimentology, structure and rheology. Mar Geol 145(3/4):255–292. doi:10.1016/S0025-3227(97)00117-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langseth MG, Westbrook GK, Hobart MA (1988) Geophysical survey of a mud volcano seaward of the Barbados Ridge Accretionary Complex. J Geophys Res 93:1049–1061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loncke L (2002) Le delta profond du Nil: structure et évolution depuis le Messinien. Thèse de doctorat, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris

  • Loncke L, Mascle J, Fanil Scientific Parties (2004) Mud volcanoes, gas chimneys, pockmarks and mounds in the Nile deep-sea fan (eastern Mediterranean); geophysical evidences. Mar Petrol Geol 21(6):669–689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loncke L, Gaullier V, Mascle J, Vendeville B, Camera L (2006) The Nile deep-sea fan: an example of interacting sedimentation, salt tectonics, and inherited subsalt paleotopographic features. Mar Petrol Geol 23(3):297–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald IR, Reilly JF, Guinasso NL, Brooks JM, Carney RS, Bryant WA, Bright TJ (1990) Chemosynthetic mussels at a brine-filled pockmark in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Science 248(4959):1096–1099. doi:10.1126/science.248.4959.1096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald IR, Buthman DB, Sager WW, Peccini MB, Guinasso NL (2000) Pulsed oil discharge from a mud volcano. Geology 28(10):907–910. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<907:podfam>2.0.co;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mascle J, Mary F, Praeg D, Brosolo L, Camera L, Ceramicola S, Dupré S (2014) Distribution and geological control of mud volcanoes and other fluid/free gas seepage features in the Mediterranean Sea and nearby Gulf of Cadix. Geo-Mar Lett 34. doi:10.1007/s00367-014-0356-4

  • Mazzini A, Svensen H, Akhmanov GG, Aloisi G, Planke S, Malthe-Sørenssen A, Istadi B (2007) Triggering and dynamic evolution of the LUSI mud volcano, Indonesia. Earth Planet Sci Lett 261(3/4):375–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neurauter TW, Roberts HH (1994) Three generations of mud volcanoes on the Louisiana continental slope. Geo-Mar Lett 14:120–125. doi:10.1007/BF01203723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nuzzo M, Elvert M, Schmidt M, Scholz F, Reitz A, Hinrichs K-U, Hensen C (2012) Impact of hot fluid advection on hydrocarbon gas production and seepage in mud volcano sediments of thick Cenozoic deltas. Earth Planet Sci Lett 341(344):139–157. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.05.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omoregie EO, Mastalerz V, de Lange G, Straub KL, Kappler A, Røy H, Stadnitskaia A, Foucher J-P, Boetius A (2008) Biogeochemistry and community composition of iron- and sulfur-precipitating microbial mats at the Chefren mud volcano (Nile Deep Sea Fan, Eastern Mediterranean). Appl Environ Microbiol 74(10):3198–3215. doi:10.1128/AEM.01751-07

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paull CK, Ussler W III, Holbrook WS, Hill TM, Keaten R, Mienert J, Haflidason H, Johnson JE, Winters WJ, Lorenson TD (2008) Origin of pockmarks and chimney structures on the flanks of the Storegga Slide, offshore Norway. Geo-Mar Lett 28:43–51. doi:10.1007/s00367-007-0088-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pautot G, Guennoc P, Coutelle A, Lyberis N (1984) Discovery of a large brine deep in the northern Red Sea. Nature 310:133–136. doi:10.1038/310133a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierre C, Mascle J, Dupré S (2008) MEDECO Leg 2 cruise report. R/V Pourquoi pas? 02 to 30 November 2007 Rhodes-Toulon. Ifremer, Plouzané. http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00134/24550/

  • Pierre C, Bayon G, Blanc-Valleron M-M, Mascle J, Dupré S (2014) Authigenic carbonates related to active seepage of methane-rich hot brines at the Cheops mud volcano, Menes caldera (Nile deep-sea fan, eastern Mediterranean Sea). Geo-Mar Lett 34. doi:10.1007/s00367-014-0362-6

  • Pilcher RS, Blumstein RD (2007) Brine volume and salt dissolution rates in Orca Basin, northeast Gulf of Mexico. AAPG Bull 91(6):823–833. doi:10.1306/12180606049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Praeg D, Ceramicola S, Barbieri R, Unnithan V, Wardell N (2009) Tectonically-driven mud volcanism since the late Pliocene on the Calabrian accretionary prism, central Mediterranean Sea. Mar Petrol Geol 26(9):1849–1865. doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.03.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prinzhofer A, Deville E (2013) Origins of hydrocarbon gas seeping out from offshore mud volcanoes in the Nile delta. Tectonophysics 591:52–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson AHF, Emeis KC, Richter C, Blanc VMM, Bouloubassi I et al (1996) Mud volcanism on the Mediterranean Ridge. In: Emeis KC, Robertson AHF, Richter C et al (eds) Mediterranean I, Leg 160, cruises of the drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, to Naples, Italy, Sites 963-973, 7 March-3 May, 1995. Proc Ocean Drilling Program, Part A: Initial Reports, vol 160. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, pp 521–526

    Google Scholar 

  • Roether W, Klein B, Manca BB, Theocharis A, Kioroglou S (2007) Transient Eastern Mediterranean deep waters in response to the massive dense-water output of the Aegean Sea in the 1990s. Progr Oceanogr 74(4):540–571. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.03.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sager WW, MacDonald IR, Hou R (2003) Geophysical signatures of mud mounds at hydrocarbon seeps on the Louisiana continental slope, northern Gulf of Mexico. Mar Geol 198(1/2):97–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sardou O, Mascle J (2003) Cartography by multibeam echo-sounder of the Nile deep-sea Fan and surrounding areas (2 sheets). Special publication CIESM, Monaco

    Google Scholar 

  • Shokes RF, Trabant PK, Presley BJ, Reid DF (1977) Anoxic, hypersaline basin in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Science 196(4297):1443–1446. doi:10.1126/science.196.4297.1443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart SA, Davies RJ (2006) Structure and emplacement of mud volcano systems in the South Caspian Basin. AAPG Bull 90(5):771–786

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandré C, Cramer B, Gerling P, Winsemann J (2007) Natural gas formation in the western Nile delta (Eastern Mediterranean): thermogenic versus microbial. Org Geochem 38(4):523–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Rensbergen P, Morley CK, Ang DW, Hoan TQ, Lam NT (1999) Structural evolution of shale diapirs from reactive rise to mud volcanism; 3D seismic data from the Baram Delta, offshore Brunei Darussalam. J Geol Soc Lond 156(3):633–650

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Rensbergen P, Rabaute A, Colpaert A, Ghislain TS, Mathijs M, Bruggeman A (2007) Fluid migration and fluid seepage in the Connemara Field, Porcupine Basin interpreted from industrial 3D seismic and well data combined with high-resolution site survey data. Int J Earth Sci 96(1):185–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiticar MJ (1999) Carbon and hydrogen isotope systematics of bacterial formation and oxidation of methane. Chem Geol 161(1/3):291–314. doi:10.1016/S0009-2541(99)00092-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiedicke M, Neben S, Spiess V (2001) Mud volcanoes at the front of the Makran accretionary complex, Pakistan. Mar Geol 172(1/2):57–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodside JM, Volgin AV (1996) Brine pools associated with Mediterranean Ridge mud diapirs: an interpretation of echo-free patches in deep tow sidescan sonar data. Mar Geol 132(1/4):55–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodside JM, Modin DI, Ivanov MK (2003) An enigmatic strong reflector on subbottom profiler records from the Black Sea—the top of shallow gas hydrate deposits. Geo-Mar Lett 23:269–277. doi:10.1007/s00367-003-0149-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodside JM, de Lange G, Dupré S (2004) Mimes (Multiscale Investigations of Eastern MEditerranean Seep Systems). An expedition on Pelagia 13 June 2004 - 14 July 2004: a contribution to the Mediflux projet of Euromargins. Cruise report, Ifremer, Plouzané. http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00175/28649/

  • Yusifov M, Rabinowitz PD (2004) Classification of mud volcanoes in the South Caspian Basin, offshore Azerbaijan. Mar Petrol Geol 21(8):965–975

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zitter TAC, Huguen C, ten Veen J, Woodside JM (2006) Tectonic control on mud volcanoes and fluid seeps in the Anaximander Mountains, eastern Mediterranean Sea. Geol Soc Am Spec Papers 409:615–631. doi:10.1130/2006.2409(28)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the officers and crews of the R/V Pelagia and R/V Pourquoi pas? for the successful operations conducted during the Mimes and Medeco2 expeditions respectively. Alain Moreau provided the processed multichannel seismic profiles. We would like to thank Anne Pacault for her assistance in chirp data acquisition and processing, and Laëtitia Brosolo for processing the high-resolution bathymetry maps. Also acknowledged are valuable suggestions and improvements from Patrice Imbert, an anonymous reviewer, as well as the journal editors. MIMES was a part of MEDIFLUX, a cooperative Dutch-French-German programme endorsed and promoted by the European Science Foundation within its EUROMARGINS initiative (contract no. ERAS-CT-2003-980409 of the European Commission, DG Research, FP6). The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) is thanked for the Dutch financial support within MEDIFLUX through NWO/ALW project 855.01.031. The MEDECO2 cruise was supported and processed thanks to HERMES (EC contract no. GOCE-CT-2005-511234) and HERMIONE (EC contract no. FP7-ENV-2008-1-226354) programmes, funded by the European Commission’s Framework Six and Seven programmes.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IFREMER, Géosciences Marines, 29280, Plouzané Cedex, France

    Stéphanie Dupré, Jean-Paul Foucher & François Harmegnies

  2. Observatoire Océanologique, BP48, 06235, Villefranche-sur-mer, France

    Jean Mascle

  3. Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    John Woodside

  4. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, LOCEAN (UMR 7159), 4 Place Jussieu, 75252, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Catherine Pierre

Authors
  1. Stéphanie Dupré
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jean Mascle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jean-Paul Foucher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. François Harmegnies
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. John Woodside
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Catherine Pierre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stéphanie Dupré.

Additional information

Responsible guest editor: P. Imbert

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dupré, S., Mascle, J., Foucher, JP. et al. Warm brine lakes in craters of active mud volcanoes, Menes caldera off NW Egypt: evidence for deep-rooted thermogenic processes. Geo-Mar Lett 34, 153–168 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-014-0367-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-014-0367-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation