Processing and interpretation of Mareano water column data from the southwestern part of the Norwegian Barents Sea

Abstract

This study was carried out using multibeam echo sounder data collected during Mareano surveys in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2020. The data from the surveys have been processed and interpreted to identify natural gas seeps, visible as gas flares, in the water column data. Mapping was carried out in the Hopenbanken, Fingerdjupet basin, Hoop fault complex, Swaen graben and Bjarmalandplattformen areas of the southern Barents Sea. The subsurface geology consists of eroded sediments from Jurassic to middle Triassic age. The shallowest area is on Sentralbanken High, with the seafloor deepening towards 500 m in the Bear Island Trough. The following results were obtained: • Processing and interpretation of water column data from the study area in the southern Barents Sea using Fledermaus Midwater software indicates 357 flares of varying sizes and confidence levels. • Flares are categorized according to the standard methods used in Mareano and other projects. • 36 flares with a magnitude higher than 4 were identified, thus representing ~10% of the flares.