Deep Source Gas Project

Technical Report · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6484573

The objectives of the Deep Source Gas project are to establish the existence of natural gas arising from depths in excess of 30,000 feet, to relate these occurrences to conceptual models, to define the limits of target areas, to quantify the resource, and to determine the significance of the gas to the nation's reserves. An outline of the research plan to accomplish the above objectives is presented, focused to an earth science (geology, geochemistry, and geophysics) study of the Cordilleran Geologic Province of western North America. This area is considered prospective largely due to known and suspected plate tectonic structures and their youthful emplacement (i.e., during the last 180 million years), which increases the likelihood of a timely entrapment of deep source generated hydrocarbons. Significant project results include: (1) an estimate of the deep source gas generating capacity of the Aleutian Trench area of southern Alaska (up to 212 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) during the last 20 million years alone) based on detailed geochemical studies; and (2) deep geophysical study findings of apparent fossil subduction zones (predicted to occur in the Cordillera) in western Washington. Significantly, these zones appear to have very thick sedimentary rock units, the existence of which will be evaluated through a future, more detailed seismic study and possible drilling activities. A list of future activities is included, which presents the development of a critically needed detection and differentiation system to enable segregation of suspected deep subducted origin gas from other possible sources. 13 figures.

• Research Organization: Department of Energy, Morgantown, WV (USA). Morgantown Energy Technology Center
• OSTI ID: 6484573
• Report Number(s): DOE/METC/SP-211; ON: DE84009249
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030200* -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ABIOGENIC GAS
ALASKA
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
CHEMISTRY
DEPTH
DEPTH 9-12 KM
DIMENSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION X
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
GEOPHYSICS
ISLANDS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT
RESOURCES
TECTONICS
USA
WASHINGTON