Distribution and controls on gas hydrate in the ocean-floor environment
Methane hydrate, a crystalline solid that is formed of water and gas molecules, is widespread in oceanic sediments. It occurs at water depths that exceed 300 to 500 m and in a zone that commonly extends from the sea floor, down several hundred meters - the base of the zone is limited by increased temperature. To determine factors that control gas hydrate concentration, we have mapped its distribution off the U.S. Atlantic coast using acoustic remote-sensing methods. Most natural gas hydrate is formed from biogenic methane, and therefore it is concentrated where there is a rapid accumulation of organic detritus and also where there is a rapid accumulation of sediments (which protect detritus from oxidation). When hydrate fills the pore space of sediment, it can reduce permeability and create a gas trap. Such trapping of gas beneath hydrate may cause the formation of the most concentrated hydrate deposits, perhaps because the gas that is held in the trap can slowly diffuse upwards or migrate through faults. Hydrate-sealed traps are formed by hills on the sea floor, by dipping strata, or by salt(?) domes. Off the southeastern United States, a small area (only 3000 km{sup 2}) beneath a ridge formed by rapidly-deposited sediments appears to contain a volume of methane in hydrate that is equivalent to {approximately}30 times the U.S. annual consumption of gas. The breakdown of hydrate can cause submarine landslides by converting the hydrate to gas plus water and generating a rise of pore pressure. Conversely, sea-floor landslides can cause breakdown of hydrate by reducing the pressure in sediments. These interacting processes may cause cascading slides, which would result in breakdown of hydrate and release of methane to the atmosphere. This addition of methane to the global greenhouse would significantly influence climate. Gas hydrate in sea-floor sediments is potentially significant to climate, energy resources, and sea-floor stability.
- OSTI ID:
- 549167
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950264--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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