Seismoacoustic Study of the Shallow Gas Transport and Reservoirs in the Vicinity of Seabed Fluid Seepage of the Black Sea

This thesis investigates in detail the subsurface structures of mud volcanoes and gas seeps, and presents the gas/fluid migration mechanisms and intermediate gas reservoirs related to the mud volcanoes and gas seeps, influenced by sedimentary processes, tectonic movements, sea level changes and gas hydrate formation. In this case study, the PhD work focused on the central Black Sea and the continental slope of the Kerch Peninsula margin (particularly the Kerch seep area), where two different vent areas exist. The research objectives have been accomplished by processing the high resolution 2D seismic datasets, Parasound datasets and plotting the bathymetry map, and by interpreting and analysing anomalous seismic features, seismic facies, seismic stratigraphy and geological time scales.