资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

We validate a new model for mass transfer and bubble transport for natural seeps on the continental margins using an integrated observation of a seep at 883 m in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. In the model, mass transfer is assumed to transition from clean‐ to dirty‐bubble mass transfer rates following a characteristic hydrate formation time that depends on the initial bubble surface area and the hydrate sub‐cooling. We show that buoyancy‐induced upwelling is negligible for the bubble stream. We initialize the model using precise data observed at the seafloor and validate the model results to optical and acoustic measurements within the bubble stream. The model accurately predicts the acoustic attenuation of the bubble flare by lateral spreading and bubble shrinkage throughout the water column. The model shows that up to 99.4% by mass of the released gases from this seep dissolve into the ocean within the hydrate stability zone.