Origin of methane-rich natural gas at the West Pacific convergent plate boundary

Methane emission from the geosphere is generally characterized by a radiocarbon-free signature and might preserve information on the deep carbon cycle on Earth. Here we report a clear relationship between the origin of methane-rich natural gases and the geodynamic setting of the West Pacific convergent plate boundary. Natural gases in the frontal arc basin (South Kanto gas fields, Northeast Japan) show a typical microbial signature with light carbon isotopes, high CH4/C2H6 and CH4/He-3 ratios. In the Akita-Niigata region-which corresponds to the slope stretching from the volcanic-arc to the back-arc-a thermogenic signature characterize the gases, with prevalence of heavy carbon isotopes, low CH4/C2H6 and CH4/He-3 ratios. Natural gases from mud volcanoes in South Taiwan at the collision zone show heavy carbon isotopes, middle CH4/C2H6 ratios and low CH4/He-3 ratios. On the other hand, those from the Tokara Islan(d)s situated on the volcanic front of Southwest Japan show the heaviest carbon isotopes, middle CH4/C2H6 ratios and the lowest CH4/He-3 ratios. The observed geochemical signatures of natural gases are clearly explained by a mixing of microbial, thermogenic and abiotic methane. An increasing contribution of abiotic methane towards more tectonically active regions of the plate boundary is suggested.