Soil and spring water gas data from an area with natural hydrogen (H2) degassing, NW Pyrenean foreland, France

Cite as:

Zwaan, Frank; Pilz, Peter; Niedermann, Samuel; Zimmer, Martin; Lefeuvre, Nicolas; Petit, Valentin; Vieth-Hillebrand, Andrea; Gaucher, Eric C.; Schmidt-Hattenberger, Cornelia; Brune, Sascha (2024): Soil and spring water gas data from an area with natural hydrogen (H2) degassing, NW Pyrenean foreland, France. GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.2.5.2024.001

Status

I N R E V I E W : Zwaan, Frank; Pilz, Peter; Niedermann, Samuel; Zimmer, Martin; Lefeuvre, Nicolas; Petit, Valentin; Vieth-Hillebrand, Andrea; Gaucher, Eric C.; Schmidt-Hattenberger, Cornelia; Brune, Sascha (2024): Soil and spring water gas data from an area with natural hydrogen (H2) degassing, NW Pyrenean foreland, France. GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.2.5.2024.001

Abstract

This data set contains the results from a 2023 GFZ Innovative Research Expedition project to explore for natural hydrogen gas (H2) occurrences in the NW Pyrenean foreland, near the town of Biarritz in France. The data represent in-situ measurements of soil and spring water gas, as well as in-situ spring water property measurements, complemented with laboratory analysis results of gas contents and noble gas isotopic compositions of gas and spring water samples collected during the expedition.

This GFZ Innovative Research Expedition was inspired by previous exploration efforts in the region by Lefeuvre et al. (2021, 2022). These authors detected elevated concentrations of natural H2 gas in the soil and interpreted this natural H2 to be derived from serpentinizing mantle rocks below the Pyrenees.

The main aims of this expedition were the following: (1) in-situ measuring soil gas contents and taking soil gas samples for laboratory analysis at a site near the town of Peyrehorade in the NW of the general study area of Lefeuvre et al. (2021), thus improving the soil gas data coverage along the NW end of the North Pyrenean Frontal Thrust (NPFT); (2) taking gas samples from degassing springs (or water samples from non-degassing springs to be degassed in the lab) in the general Lefeuvre et al. (2021) study area for additional laboratory analysis of gas contents and noble gas isotopic compositions, which may be indicative of (deep) gas origins; and (3) performing a detailed soil gas analysis by means of a portable mass spectrometer at Sauveterre-de-Béarn, a site along the NPFT where Lefeuvre et al. (2022) measured elevated concentrations of natural H2 in the soil. Furthermore, we also measured the properties of the visited springs (temperature, pH, conductivity) while on site, and performed additional in-situ soil gas measurements from manual drillholes.

Details on the measurement and sampling methods, on the laboratory analyses, as well as the results of these measurements and analyses are provided in the data description file

The expedition involved six field days in July 2023, during which a total of 26 sites were visited. These sites were selected for their vicinity near a major geological contact or fault zone that could have facilitated upward circulation of gas or (thermal) water from the (deep) subsurface (i.e., potentially from the mantle).

Authors

Zwaan, Frank;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany;University of Fribourg, Department of Geosciences, Fribourg, Switzerland
Pilz, Peter;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Niedermann, Samuel;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Zimmer, Martin;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Lefeuvre, Nicolas;CVA Group, Pau, France
Petit, Valentin;CVA Group, Pau, France;University of Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, Pau, France
Vieth-Hillebrand, Andrea;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Gaucher, Eric C.;Lavoisier H2 Geoconsult, Chamonix, France
Schmidt-Hattenberger, Cornelia;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Brune, Sascha;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany;University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

Contact

Zwaan, Frank (Postdoc Researcher) ; GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany; ➦

Contributors

Geochemistry Laboratories (GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Germany); Laboratory for Compound-specific Isotope Analysis (GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Germany); Noble Gas Lab (GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Germany)