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https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3487
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3487
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
16 Sep 2025
| 16 Sep 2025
Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for Solid Earth (SE).
Tectonic control and geometric characterization of hydrothermal vent complex using seismic data, Potiguar Basin – Brazil
Abstract. Hydrothermal vent complexes in sedimentary basins are linked to igneous intrusions, which induce structural and thermal perturbations, causing forced folds, hydrocarbon maturation, and fluid remobilization. While their genesis is often associated with magmatic heat and hydraulic fracturing, the controlling factors of their geometry and development remain debated. This study analyzes 3D seismic data from the Potiguar Basin (onshore Brazil), identifying vent structures, two of which were extracted in a 3D perspective from the variance attribute. Our results indicate that all the vents are structurally controlled by regional-scale faults, which enhance permeability starting from the hydraulic fracturing and boiling processes. Seismic attributes, such as variance and dip illumination have proven effective in identifying vent structures, fault associations, and fluid pathways, providing insights into their spatial distribution and geometric characteristics. Cosine of phase attribute reveals that hydrothermal vents exhibit varying geometries as they cut different sedimentary units within the basin. Our findings highlight the petrophysical implications of a fault zone in a hydrothermal vent complex and advance understanding of silicification processes in sedimentary reservoirs.
How to cite. Oliveira, L. S. B., Lucas, L. C. V., Iacopini, D., Balsamo, F., Torabi, A., Alaei, B., de Sousa Neto, J. F., Moura, P. E. F., Vasconcelos, D. L., La Bruna, V., and Bezerra, F. H. R.: Tectonic control and geometric characterization of hydrothermal vent complex using seismic data, Potiguar Basin – Brazil, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3487, 2025.
Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this paper. While Copernicus Publications makes every effort to include appropriate place names, the final responsibility lies with the authors. Views expressed in the text are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
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Lorenna Sávilla Brito Oliveira
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Postgraduate Program in Geodynamics and Geophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Campus Universitário - Lagoa Nova, CEP 59078-970, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Luiza Cavalcante Vinhas Lucas
Postgraduate Program in Geodynamics and Geophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Campus Universitário - Lagoa Nova, CEP 59078-970, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
David Iacopini
Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences (DISTAR - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e delle Risorse), University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
Fabrizio Balsamo
Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Anita Torabi
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Postboks 1047, Blindern 0316, Oslo, Norway
Behzad Alaei
Earth Science Analytics, Strandveien 3333, 1366 Lysaker, Norway
João Felipe de Sousa Neto
Postgraduate Program in Geodynamics and Geophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Campus Universitário - Lagoa Nova, CEP 59078-970, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Pedro Edson Face Moura
Postgraduate Program in Geology, Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Campus do Pici, Bloco 912, CEP 60440-900, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
David Lino Vasconcelos
Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG), Aprígio Veloso, 882, Campus Universitário, Campina Grande, Paraíba, CEP 58429-900, Brazil
Vincenzo La Bruna
Postgraduate Program in Geodynamics and Geophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Campus Universitário - Lagoa Nova, CEP 59078-970, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Francisco Hilário Rego Bezerra
Postgraduate Program in Geodynamics and Geophysics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Campus Universitário - Lagoa Nova, CEP 59078-970, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Short summary
This study examines hydrothermal vent complexes in Brazil's Potiguar Basin using 3D seismic data, demonstrating how regional faults control vent formation by channeling fluid flow. Results reveal that vent development processes and their geometry, with seismic attributes effectively mapping their distribution. The research advances understanding of tectono-hydrothermal relationships, providing insights for hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir characterization in sedimentary basins.
This study examines hydrothermal vent complexes in Brazil's Potiguar Basin using 3D seismic...
Dear authors,
I reviewed your work with interest and on the back of comprehensive experience on both Equatorial Brazil and fluid-flow processes on continental margins.
Unfortunately, I found this paper not mature enough to be published. It seems also to be based on a thesis of some kind - either a MSc or PhD thesis, I am not entirely sure. This means that the paper is overly wordy, its introduction is unfocused, and quantification is lacking in this submission. I stress that just the (presumed) imaging of a vertical dim zone, or spot, in seismic data is not a sufficient condition to publish on Solid Earth. Compounding this limitation, there are interpretation errors in the paper that make me critical about the main conclusion of this work.
Major points (please, see attached .pdf file):
Title - I am not sure if you are dealing with a hydrothermal vent complex in the study area, or just the remnant of an older complex. There are aspects in the interpretation (commented later on) that are puzzling to me, as a reviewer.
1-Line 32 claims that all the vents are controlled by underlying structures. Yet, none of the maps presented in this paper undertakes a mapping of faults and other structures at depth. In other words, the link between structures and fluid-flow features is not established at all in this paper.
2-Line 33 mentions processes such and hydraulic fracturing and boiling (?), but none of these processes can be corroborated by only interpreting seismic data. Such a statement is speculative.
3-Lines 46 and 47 - I am not at all sure what the first sentence in the Introduction means. It means nothing as currently written.
4-Lines 50 to 52 - These lines (and many others after this part) confuse igneous intrusions with hydrothermal vents. Vents are seeps of volatiles and fluid. Intrusions are, essentially, formed by viscous hot magma that forces its way into the surface, or into a sill, lacolith or other intrusive igneous body. The two processes should not be mixed.
5-Volcanic or magmatic? Volcanic processes imply the formation of volcanoes at the surface.
6-Line 57 - What reservoirs? Magma reservoirs? Fluid reservoirs?
7-Line 61 is redundant.
8-I do not know what is post-mortem seismics. Surely many a seismic survey and marine geology campaign have sampled and surveyed ACTIVE hydrothermal seeps.
9-Lines 66 to 68 - This statement is incorrect as Chris Kirkham, C. Roelofse and other authors have concluded on the mechanisms that lead to the nucleation and propagation of vents. There are many papers from Marine Geology surveys that explain these same processes too.
10-Page 4 reads as a literature review.
11-Line 102 to 115 mention aspects, and results, that are not novel at all. Your attribute-based methods have been used for decades, so they cannot justify the publication of this paper alone. What are the geological research questions you intend to address?
12-Lines 116 to 124: If these are research questions of your interest, there are three main processes indicated in this paragraph which, for better or worse, cannot be addressed by seismic data alone. They are completely out of the scope of this paper.
13-Line 130 reveals that your dataset is very small. Twelve fluid-flow features are not a hydrothermal vent complex. Actually, only 3 of these features are (tentatively) interpreted as vents.
14-Lines 191-192: A silicified fault zone is evoked here. Yet, none of the maps and surfaces shown (nor the seismic profiles) show a unequivocal fault zone. The paragraph on this page 9 calls no figures or data to corroborate the presence of such a fault zone.
15-MAJOR ISSUE: being the features on Figure 4 interpreted as vents and pipes, why have they completely flat tops? As (rightly illustrated by Figure 1, you should see craters, domes, eye-shaped, onlapping, divergent, etc., etc. geometries above your vents. Yet, the seismic data in Figure 4 show completely flat continuos reflections across the putative vents and pipes. Moreover, the seafloor is flat.
16-Some of the faults in the profile may actually be artefacts and or push-down and pull-up acoustic features.
17-Figure 5- Another example of completely flat tops for the putative vents + continuos reflectors across them. Please, compare your features with those documented by Chris Kirkham and Chantelle Roelofse. Figure 6 show more flat tops. Are you in the presence of dim zones, rather than vents and pipes?
18-The remainder of the paper is well illustrated, but none of the figures is based on a solid interpretation work. Also, structural maps are lacking to tie the deeper structures to the imaged dim zones. These are dim zones, not pipes and vents, in my opinion. Unless you had an issues during seismic acquisition and acoustic signal was lost at some point - or there are carbonate/hardened features on the seafloor that 'dim' the strata below. The bottom line is that these are dim spots and zones, not fluid vents and pipes that have forced their way onto the seafloor, which is flat and undisturbed by this putative fluid flow.