Pulsed oil discharge from a mud volcano

In this paper we document instances where change in the magnitude of natura l oil seepage coincided with fluctuations of fluid temperature in a seafloo r mud volcano. Oil slicks were detected floating near commercial oil fields in the northern Gulf of Mexico in a time series of six satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images collected over a 10 month interval. The oil es caped naturally from a complex of fluid expulsion features at seafloor dept hs of about 600 m, One of these features was a 50-m-wide, mud- and brine-ti lled crater. Temperature in the crater fluctuated rapidly during an interva l of similar to 1 yr (minimum 6.1 degrees C, maximum 48.3 degrees C, mean 2 6.1 degrees C, standard deviation 9.07). The areas of the oil slicks in the SAR images fluctuated repeatedly between <10 and >1000 ha. The largest oil slicks detected by SAR occurred along with the fastest increase in fluid t emperature.