Aiken John M.

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Last Name
Aiken
First Name
John M.
ORCID
0000-0003-2258-3836

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  • Article
    Gas Migration Episodes Observed During Peridotite Alteration in the Samail Ophiolite, Oman
    (American Geophysical Union, 2022-10-18) Aiken, John M. ; Sohn, Robert A. ; Renard, François ; Matter, Juerg ; Kelemen, Peter ; Jamtveit, Bjørn
    Serpentinization and carbonation of mantle rocks (peridotite alteration) are fundamentally important processes for a spectrum of geoscience topics, including arc volcanism, earthquake processes, chemosynthetic biological communities, and carbon sequestration. Data from a hydrophone array deployed in the Multi‐Borehole Observatory (MBO) of the Oman Drilling Project demonstrates that free gas generated by peridotite alteration and/or microbial activity migrates through the formation in discrete bursts of activity. We detected several, minutes‐long, swarms of gas discharge into Hole BA1B of the MBO over the course of a 9 month observation interval. The episodic nature of the migration events indicates that free gas accumulates in the permeable flow network, is pressurized, and discharges rapidly into the borehole when a critical pressure, likely associated with a capillary barrier at a flow constriction, is reached. Our observations reveal a dynamic mode of fluid migration during serpentinization, and highlight the important role that free gas can play in modulating pore pressure, fluid flow, and alteration kinetics during peridotite weathering.