Séminaire ISTeP - Oleg Khlystov

(Limnological Institute, Irkutsk, Siberia)

Lake Baikal: a unique laboratory for rift basin formation, seepage and gas hydrate researc

The talk will start with an overview of the geodynamical setting in which Lake Baikal and the Baikal rift zone have been formed.  Two main models of the development of the intracontinental rift will be discussed; after 50 years of geological and geophysical research history, there is still no exclusive answer on the formation model of the rift.
Secondly I will focus on the history gas hydrate research in Lake Baikal.  In the deep basin there is large diversity of hydrate bearing fluid emission sites (cold seeps, mud volcanoes, pockmarks, etc.) and their availability and relative low cost of exploration make from Lake Baikal a unique natural laboratory for studying gas hydrates and their impact on the environment.
Since 20 years now, the gas hydrate occurrences have been studied by various scientists from around the world and important discoveries have been made. Since 2014, Lake Baikal became also the focus of the IOC-UNESCO supported Class@Baikal projet, a Training-Trough-Research program where young scientists and students at various levels are trained to work with gas hydrates within a real research framework. Together with colleagues from the UPMC University (J. Poort & G. Aloisi) we are now trying to develop a general model for the functioning of the Baikal seeps. Preliminary results of these work will be presented during the talk.

10/11/2017, Salle Fourcade à 12h30