CO2 Leak Soil Flux and Gas Survey from Qinghai Research Site

Soil gas and soil flux survey data characterize a surface CO2 leak from a failed wellbore at a research site in Qinghai, China. Measurements were collected over an eight-day period in 2014, with research published by Schroder et al. in 2016. The dataset includes spatial mapping of high-flux zones and soil gas composition analysis to identify the leak source and emission rate.

Use Cases

• Estimate total CO2 emission rates (649-1015 kgCO2/d) using cubic interpolation of soil flux measurements from irregular sampling grids.
• Identify the exogenous source of CO2 by analyzing ratios of major soil gas components (e.g., CO2, H2O) from 16 installed soil gas wells.
• Map the spatial distribution and migration (e.g., 20m plume migration over 11 years) of CO2 leak hotspots using regular grid soil flux surveys.
• Correlate surface soil mineralization (predominantly calcite) with historical CO2 flux distributions to infer past leak behavior.
• Apply Carbon-13 isotope signatures (e.g., -0.21‰, -0.22‰) from leak zones to determine if the CO2 source is thermal decomposition of marine carbonates.

Strengths

• Field data collected over an eight-day intensive survey period in 2014.
• Includes two distinct sampling patterns (regular and irregular grids) for spatial analysis.
• Soil gas analysis from 16 installed wells using a portable multi-gas analyzer.
• Total site CO2 emission rate quantified within a bounded range (649-1015 kgCO2/d).

Limitations

• Limited temporal coverage to a single eight-day survey, lacking long-term time-series data.
• Spatial scope is restricted to one specific field site in Qinghai, China, limiting geographic generalizability.
• Sample data and specific column structures are unavailable, hindering immediate analysis.

Provenance

Source

Research published in the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control (Schroder et al., 2016), aggregated by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Field surveys involving soil gas measurements with a portable multi-gas analyzer and soil flux surveys using cubic interpolation on sampled grids.

Time Range

2014 (specific eight-day period).

Freshness

null

Geography

Qinghai research site, west of Haidong, China.