{{Essay-like, date=April 2021 SeaSeep is a combination of 2D seismic data (a group of seismic lines acquired individually, as opposed to multiple closely space lines¹), high resolution multibeam sonar which is an evolutionary advanced form of

side-scan sonar Side-scan sonar (also sometimes called side scan sonar, sidescan sonar, side imaging sonar, side-imaging sonar and bottom classification sonar) is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea ...

, navigated piston coring (one of the more common sea floor sampling methods²), heat flow sampling (which serve a critical purpose in oil exploration and production³) and possibly gravity and magnetic data (refer to Dick Gibson's Primer on Gravity and Magnetics⁴). The term SeaSeep originally belonged to Black Gold Energy LLC⁵ and refers to a dataset that combines all of the available data into one integrated package that can be used in

hydrocarbon exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

. With the acquisition of Black Gold Energy LLC by Niko Resources Ltd.⁶ in December 2009 the term now belongs to

Niko Resources Niko Resources is an India- and South East Asia-focused oil and gas exploration and production company that shares ownership of many exploration and development properties with Komodo Energy and Reliance Industries. Though it holds exploration righ ...

The concept of a SeaSeep dataset is the modern day offshore derivative of how many oil fields were found in the late 19th and early 20th century; by finding a large

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the ...

structure with an associated oil seep. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, many of the first commercial fields in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

were found using this method including the Newhall Field discovered in 1876 and the Kern River Field discovered in 1899⁷. Seeps have also been used to find offshore fields including the

Cantarell Field Cantarell Field or Cantarell Complex is an supergiant offshore oil field in Mexico. It was discovered in 1976 after oil stains were noticed by a fisherman, Rudesindo Cantarell Jimenez, in 1972. It was placed on nitrogen injection in 2000, and pr ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1976; the largest oil field in

and one of the largest in the world. The field is named after a fisherman, Rudesindo Cantarell, who complained to

PEMEX Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expr ...

about his fishing nets being stained by oil seeps in the

Bay of Campeche The Bay of Campeche ( es, Bahía de Campeche), or Campeche Sound, is a bight (geography), bight in the southern area of the Gulf of Mexico, forming the north side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It is surrounded on three sides by the Mexico, Mexic ...

. The biological and geochemical manifestations of seepage leads to distinct bathymetrical features including positive relief mounds, pinnacles,

mud volcano A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true igneous volcanoes as they do not produce lava ...

es and negative relief pockmarks. These features can be detected by multibeam sonar and then sampled by navigated piston coring. Spec and proprietary multibeam

seep A seep or flush is a moist or wet place where water, usually groundwater, reaches the earth's surface from an underground aquifer. Description Seeps are usually not of sufficient volume to be flowing beyond their immediate above-ground location. ...

mapping and core geochemistry by Texas A&M University's Geochemical & Environmental Research Group⁸ and later TDI Brooks⁹ demonstrated thermogenic charge in deepwater

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and deepwater

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

leading to an aggressive exploration program by a number of oil companies and subsequent discoveries. The emphasis on, and marketplace acceptance of, multibeam mapping combined with navigated coring as an improvement over grid-based approaches to geochemical exploration is attributed to AOA Geophysics Inc¹⁰.

References

1. Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary

2. Piston Coring

3. TDI Brooks

4. Primer on Gravity and Magnetics

5. Black Gold Energy

6. Niko Resources Ltd.

7. Natural Oil and Gas Seeps in California:

8. Geochemical & Environmental Research Group

9. TDI Brooks

10. AOA Geophysics

Biological techniques and tools Geochemistry Geological techniques