Inventory of Onshore Hydrocarbon Seeps in Romania (HYSED-RO Database)
1
Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2
MTA-ELTE Volcanology Research Group, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
3
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, 00143 Roma, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Carlos Alves and Jesús Martínez Frías
Geosciences 2017, 7(2), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences7020039
Received: 12 March 2017 / Revised: 17 May 2017 / Accepted: 23 May 2017 / Published: 1 June 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Gas Origin, Migration, Alteration and Seepage)
Seeps are the expression of the migration of hydrocarbons from subsurface accumulations to the surface in sedimentary basins. They may represent an important indication of the presence of petroleum (gas and oil) reservoirs and faults, and are a natural source of greenhouse gas (methane) and atmospheric pollutants (ethane, propane) to the atmosphere. Romania is one of the countries with the largest number of seeps in the world, due to the high petroleum potential and active tectonics. Based on a review of the available literature, and on the field surveys performed by the authors during the last 17 years, we report the first comprehensive GIS-based inventory of 470 seeps in Romania (HYSED-RO), including gas seeps (10.4% of the total), oil seeps (11.7%), mud volcanoes (50.4%), gas-rich springs (12.6%), asphalt (solid) seeps (4.3%), unclassified manifestations (4.0%), and uncertain seeps (6.6%). Seeps are typically located in correspondence with major faults and vertical and fractured stratigraphic contacts associated to petroleum reservoirs (anticlines) in low heat flow areas, and their gas-geochemistry reflects that of the subsurface reservoirs. The largest and most active seeps occur in the Carpathian Foredeep, where they release thermogenic gas, and subordinately in the Transylvanian Basin, where gas is mainly microbial. HYSED-RO may represent a key reference for baseline characterization prior to subsurface petroleum extraction, for environmental studies, and atmospheric greenhouse gas emission estimates in Romania.
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Keywords:
hydrocarbon seeps; methane; mud volcanoes; petroleum systems; seep database
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MDPI and ACS Style
Ionescu, A.; Burrato, P.; Baciu, C.; Etiope, G.; Kis, B.-M. Inventory of Onshore Hydrocarbon Seeps in Romania (HYSED-RO Database). Geosciences 2017, 7, 39.
AMA Style
Ionescu A, Burrato P, Baciu C, Etiope G, Kis B-M. Inventory of Onshore Hydrocarbon Seeps in Romania (HYSED-RO Database). Geosciences. 2017; 7(2):39.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIonescu, Artur; Burrato, Pierfrancesco; Baciu, Calin; Etiope, Giuseppe; Kis, Boglarka-Mercedesz. 2017. "Inventory of Onshore Hydrocarbon Seeps in Romania (HYSED-RO Database)" Geosciences 7, no. 2: 39.
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