Abstract:
Served as the indicator of seabed flow, the pockmark is one of the common submarine geomorphic features worldwide. Studies in nearly half a century suggest that pockmarks are seabed depressions of various size and different morphology caused either by sudden and catastrophic eruption or slow and continuous seepage of seabed fluid. Based on the research results of seabed pockmarks, major advances in the studies of pockmarks are reviewed. Meanwhile, we systematically summarize the morphology, categorization, the main research methods, and the formation mechanism of pockmarks as well as their significance of research. Moreover, we realize that the study on the dynamic balance of migration and accumulation of seabed fluid and long-term in-situ monitoring of the pockmarks and related seeps system will become the hotspot of seabed fluid in the future.