Seep biogeochemistry & organic geochemistry
IGI’s Marianne Nuzzo is a co-author on a groundbreaking study led by Dr. Adriano Mazzini from the University of Oslo and published in Communications Earth & Environment, which reveals that Lusi mud volcano (Java, Indonesia) is a major natural emitter of oil and potent greenhouse and photochemical gases, including methane, ethane, and propane.
Lusi is a natural fluid-mud manifestation that geologists classify as “sediment-hosted geothermal system”, since it includes both hot geothermal (CO2 and water vapour) and cold sedimentary (hydrocarbons) fluids and has been active since 2006.
Drone view of the Lusi eruption and the neighboring Arjuno-Welirang volcanic complex in the background.
The research, conducted by an international team of scientists from Norway, Germany, Italy, the UK, Romania, and Indonesia, presents the first comprehensive quantification of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon emissions from the Lusi mega seepage system. During the first 13 years of continuous activity, Lusi has released an estimated 0.22–0.28 million tonnes of oil, a volume comparable to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the largest environmental disasters in recent history.
Link to the open access publication: Extensive oil, ethane and propane discharge at the mega seepage system of Lusi, Indonesia | Communications Earth & Environment
