Fliud migration and natural leakage of brines and hydrocarbon
(oil, gas and condensate), locally occurring in association with
mud volcanoes, and relationships with fluid geochemistry,
stratigraphic and tectonic setting in the northern Apennines,
Adriatic Sea, Calabrian Arc, Adriatic-Ionian Basin and Western Turkmenistan.
Carbonate conduits linked to hydrocarbons enriched seepages: the
carbonate conduits (chimneys) belong to those surface indicators of
shallow or deep reservoirs that can be very useful for exploration
purposes.
Study on organic carbon-rich intervals (sapropels) of Pliocene
to Recent age, occurring in the northern Apennines, Adriatic
foredeep and Mediterranean basin. The aim of the study is to
characterize the main forcing on the sapropel deposition, including
climate, paleoproductivity peaks and sea-level oscillation and to
define their occurrence in a sequence-stratigraphic
frame.
The study of natural fluid emissions (saline waters and
hydrocarbons) is carried out by means
of the geochemical and isotopic analysis of the fluids and their
interaction with solid phases, coupled with the definition of
surface and subsurface geologic and stratigraphic setting.
Recently, data acquisition in the north Adriatic sea has shown the
occurrence of authigenic carbonates linked to fluid vents. In the
offshore of the Calabrian Arc, seismic profiles provide new
data to interpret the active tectonic and sedimentary structure
linked to the occurrence of fluid migration in deep water also
associated to mud diapirism and mud volcanoes. The study includes
slope and basin plain systems to assess gravity-driven processes
due to active tectonics and fluid flow. In the western Turkmenistan
the study has been carried out on large natural seepages linked to
deep oil and gas fields.
Authigenic carbonate precipitation, mediated by microbial
consortia, is one of the most relevant outcome, often accompanying
hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage. Fluids can move through conduits
that, under special circumstances, could lead to authigenic
mineralization forming carbonate chimneys from mm to plurimetric in
size.The fluid migration pathways, developing within the
reservoirs, must be related to the structural evolution, and it is
crucial to assess similarities or differences by the comparison
between modern marine seepage and those presently emerged and
included in the chain deformation, to fully characterize the
depositional systems and the geologic evolution.
The study of sedimentology and stratigraphy of organic
carbon-rich intervals (sapropels) of Pliocene to Recent age,
occurring in the northern Apennines, Adriatic foredeep and
Mediterranean basin, has been coupled with the definition of
their geochemistry, organic carbon content and fossil assemblages
with respect to the intervening intervals with low organic carbon
percentage. The aim of the study is to characterize the main
forcing on the sapropel deposition including climate,
paleoproductivity peaks and sea-level oscillation and to define
their occurrence in a sequence-stratigraphic frame.
