Gas hydrates on the Atlantic Continental Margin of the United States - controls on concentration
- Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA (United States)
- Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)
Large volumes of gas hydrates exist within ocean-floor deposits at water depths exceeding about 300 to 500 m. They cement a surface layer of sediments as much as about 1,000 m thick, limited at its base by increasing temperature. Gas hydrates are identified by drilled samples and by their characteristic responses in seismic reflection profiles. These seismic responses include, at the base of the hydrate-cemented surface layer, a marked velocity decrease and a sea-floor-paralleling reflection (known as the bottom-simulating reflection, or BSR), and, within the hydrate-cemented layer, a reduction in amplitude of seismic reflections (known as blanking), which is apparently caused by cementation of strata. By using seismic-reflection data we have mapped the volume of hydrate and thickness of the hydrate-cemented layer off the US East Coast. The sources of gas at these concentrations are probably bacterial generation of methane at the locations of rapid deposition, and possibly the migration of deep, thermogenic gap up faults near diapirs. The thickness of the gas-hydrate layer decreases markedly at landslide scars, possibly due to break-down of hydrate resulting from pressure reduction caused by removal of sediment by the slide. Gas traps appear to exist where a seal is formed by the gas-hydrate-cemented layer. Such traps are observed (1) where the sea floor forms a dome, and therefore the bottom-paralleling, hydrate-cemented layer also forms a dome; (2) above diapirs, where the greater thermal conductivity of salt creates a warm spot and salt ions act as antifreeze, both effects resulting in a local shallowing of the base of the hydrate; and (3) at locations where strata dip relative to the sea floor, and the updip regions of porous strata are sealed by the gas-hydrate-cemented layer to form a trap. In such situations the gas in the hydrate-sealed trap, as well as the gas that forms the hydrate, may become a resource. 32 refs., 19 figs.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AI21-83MC20422
- OSTI ID:
- 6779776
- Journal Information:
- United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper; (United States), Journal Name: United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper; (United States) Vol. 1570; ISSN XGPPA9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Gas hydrates on continental margins of the United States based on occurrence of bottom simulating reflectors on marine seismic records
Gas hydrate detection and mapping on the US east coast