Exhalative and Carbon Isotope Instabilities in Gryphon Gases from the Bugaz Mud Volcano and Conjugated Tectonic Structures (Taman Mud Volcanic Province)

摘要

According to modern concepts, the roots of mud volcanoes in the Taman mud volcanic province are not older than Oligocene and rocks containing the hydrocarbon component of gases are not older than Cretaceous. However, according to petrographic data, mud volcanic breccia in the Taman province contain quartz porphyries, glassy obsidians, trachy-toids, and igneous rock fragments of Late Jurassic or even older age. Gaseous exhalations from mud volcanoes of the West Kuban longitudinal and Kerch-Taman transverse troughs (particularly, the Bugaz and other mud volcanoes) contain CO_2 with the mantle carbon signature (Table 1). Gas samples were taken from gryphons of the Bugaz mud volcano in 1995 and 1996. Samples were also taken from gaseous exhalations in deep fracture zones controlling the Bugaz Volcano. Analytical results showed that, in addition to CH_4 and its homologues, CO_2 with mantle signature is also present in these samples (Table 2). At the same time, individual hydrocarbons display a significantly wide range of methane-series components (Table 1).