Investigation on the oil and gas geomicrobial anomalies of the Seyvan mud volcano, adjacent to Marand city, East Azerbaijan, Iran

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

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Tabriz University

Abstract

Mud Volcano systems are the result of a series of reactions from several processes developed from depth to surface. They are one of strangest and most fascinating geomorphologic phenomena. Since the mud volcanoes originate from deeper depths of the earth, they can indicate subsurface processes. They have a relative correlation with oil and gas resources such that they are known as hydrocarbon reserves indicators. Accordingly, they are evaluated to identify oil and gas fields. One of the recent methods of hydrocarbon exploration is geomicrobial exploration that is based on surface excavation technique to identify leaking gases relevant to hydrocarbon microseepage. Th Seyvan mud volcano is located in Seyvan village, a district of the Marand city, the northwest of East Azerbaijan province. In this study, an extensive geomicrobial survey was performed on the Seyvan mud volcanoes samples in order to study abundance of bacterial communities of Methanotrophs, Ethanotrophs and Propanotrophs bacterias. This was further used for primary assessment of the hydrocarbon potential in the study area using counting method on culture plates. A total of 7 soil and mud samples together with two water samples were collected from the study area and transferred to a microbiological laboratory for microbial culture on the samples. Afterwards, the number of microorganisms per gram of soil was calculated. The survey of geomicrobial result showed that in four samples collected from three points of the Seyvan mud volcano, Methanotroph and Ethanotroph anomalies are abundant, while to confirm the presence of propanotroph bacteria, supplementary experiments are needed.

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Researches in Earth Sciences

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 June 2022

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