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Gas accumulations and their association with particle size distribution patterns in the Ría de Arousa seabed (Galicia, NW Spain): an application of discriminant analysis

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Abstract

Gassy sediments in the Ría de Arousa are preferentially distributed in areas of muddy seabed sediments. The close relationship between seabed sediment parameters and gas distribution is here studied in detail to establish better constraints on the presence of gas. Discriminant analysis was applied to the textural and compositional characteristics of 303 seabed sediment samples to classify gas-related and gas-free areas in the Ría de Arousa. The parameters considered in the classification were: particle size data (percentages of clay, silt, sand and gravel), the total inorganic carbon and the total organic carbon contents of the samples. The samples were initially classified in two groups according to the presence or absence of acoustic turbidity in the seismic profiles, shallower than 150 cm below seabed. Of the total known cases, 85.5% were correctly classified using these variables. Applying the Wilks’ lambda criterion, the most influential textural discriminating variables were the percentage of clay and the percentage of coarse fraction (gravel and sand) in the sediment sample. Discriminant analysis has achieved good differentiation between gas-related and gas-free sediments using near-seabed sediment information. The application of the discriminant method has enabled the estimation of the total area covered by gassy sediments in the Ría de Arousa. The area calculated based on the seismic data (30 km2) is a minimum estimate that is constrained by the limits of the existing seismic data. Based on the sediment information obtained from seabed samples, the statistical method estimates a total area of gassy sediments of 39 km2. The new gassy areas recognized are located around the gas field at the inner ría, and the gas field west of Arousa Island, which increase in area by 8.3 and 0.4 km2 respectively.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is a contribution to the projects REN2003-03233, VEM2003-20093, REN2003-02822 and CTM2004-21110-E/MAR of the Spanish Research Programme and the project PGIDIT03R-MA30101PR of the Galician Government (XUGA). Special thanks to Dr. Carlos Villaverde Taboada from the University of Vigo for his helpful suggestions about the discriminant analysis. Alan Judd is sincerely thanked for his English corrections that have greatly improved the manuscript. Paula Álvarez and Kais Mohamed are also gratefully acknowledged for their help with SPSS. The manuscript benefited significantly from helpful critical comments and suggestions made by Michael D. Richardson and Angus Best.

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  1. Departamento de Geociencias Marinas y Ordenación del Territorio, Universidad de Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain

    R. Diez, S. García-Gil, R. Durán & F. Vilas

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  1. R. Diez
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Correspondence to R. Diez.

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Diez, R., García-Gil, S., Durán, R. et al. Gas accumulations and their association with particle size distribution patterns in the Ría de Arousa seabed (Galicia, NW Spain): an application of discriminant analysis. Geo-Mar Lett 27, 89–102 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-007-0064-4

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