The Northern Adriatic basin is characterized by a widespread occurence of gas in the subsurface, testified by the the presence of fluid-related seabed and sub-seabed features (Donda et al., 2015, and references therein). However, the origin of the gas and its path trough the sedimentary column is still not well constrained. In 2009 and 2014 OGS carried out two seismic surveys in the area collecting more than 1200 km of multichannel 2D seismic reflection lines, CHIRP sub-bottom profiles and swath morpho-bathymetric data. These data were collected with the main aim to constrain the relationship between gas emissions and the regional geological setting of the study area and to characterize the gas-charged fluids occurring within the sedimentary succession.

The objective of my PhD thesis is the quantification of gas content along two perpendicular profiles whithin the Plio-Quaternary sedimentary succession, through the petrophysical characterization of the sediments using well-log seismic attribute correlation.
The proper characterization of the gas occurrence in the study area has direct implications form different point of views: 1. The innovative and multidisciplinary approach that I’ve used could be applied in other areas characterized by gas-charged fluids in similar geological settings; 2. The comprehensive evaluation of the gas occurrence and its migration throughout the sedimentary suc- cession will help in constraining the role of tectonic features identified. Moreover, due to the shal- low water conditions of the area, the potential transfer of gas from sediment to the water column and then into the atmosphere is supposed to be rapid. Therefore, the importance of understanding the mechanisms of natural gas seepage has direct climatological implications, since CH4 is the 2nd most significant long lived greenhouse gas.