The Manifestation of Degassing in the Sedimentary Cover and Relief of the Southern Novaya Zemlya Trench (Pechora Sea)

The results of detailed geological and geomorphological studies in the waters of the Pechora Sea using a complex of hydroacoustic methods during the 52nd cruise of R/V Akademik Nikolaj Strakhov revealed numerous gas funnels (pockmarks) at the bottom of the Southern Novaya Zemlya Trench. These forms are widespread over a considerable part of the bottom of the Barents Sea, but for the Pechora shelf, there is little information about their distribution. The analysis of the seismoacoustic sections at the sites of development of gas funnels showed the presence of vertical chimneys in unconsolidated sediments of the Southern Novaya Zemlya Trench, which allow gas to rise to the bottom surface and to escape into the water column with the formation of negative landforms, which is accompanied by the detachment of bottom sediments.