Estimating pore-space gas hydrate saturations from well log acoustic data

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 9 (2008): Q07008, doi:10.1029/2008GC002081.Relating pore-space gas hydrate saturation to sonic velocity data is important for remotely estimating gas hydrate concentration in sediment. In the present study, sonic velocities of gas hydrate–bearing sands are modeled using a three-phase Biot-type theory in which sand, gas hydrate, and pore fluid form three homogeneous, interwoven frameworks. This theory is developed using well log compressional and shear wave velocity data from the Mallik 5L-38 permafrost gas hydrate research well in Canada and applied to well log data from hydrate-bearing sands in the Alaskan permafrost, Gulf of Mexico, and northern Cascadia margin. Velocity-based gas hydrate saturation estimates are in good agreement with Nuclear Magneto Resonance and resistivity log estimates over the complete range of observed gas hydrate saturations

Marine-controlled source electromagnetic study of methane seeps and gas hydrates at Opouawe Bank, Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand

Marine controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) data have been collected to investigate methane seep sites and associated gas hydrate deposits at Opouawe Bank on the southern tip of the Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand. The bank is located in about 1000 m water depth within the gas hydrate stability field. The seep sites are characterized by active venting and typical methane seep fauna accompanied with patchy carbonate outcrops at the seafloor. Below the seeps, gas migration pathways reach from below the bottom-simulating reflector (at around 380 m sediment depth) toward the seafloor, indicating free gas transport into the shallow hydrate stability field. The CSEM data have been acquired with a seafloor-towed, electric multi-dipole system measuring the inline component of the electric field. CSEM data from three profiles have been analyzed by using 1-D and 2-D inversion techniques. High-resolution 2-D and 3-D multichannel seismic data have been collected in the same area. The electrical resistivity models show several zones of highly anomalous resistivities (>50 Ωm) which correlate with high amplitude reflections located on top of narrow vertical gas conduits, indicating the coexistence of free gas and gas hydrates within the hydrate stability zone. Away from the seeps the CSEM models show normal background resistivities between ~1 and 2 Ωm. Archie's law has been applied to estimate gas/gas hydrate saturations below the seeps. At intermediate depths between 50 and 200 m below seafloor, saturations are between 40 and 80% and gas hydrate may be the dominating pore filling constituent. At shallow depths from 10 m to the seafloor, free gas dominates as seismic data and gas plumes suggest

Geologic framework of the 2005 Keathley Canyon gas hydrate research well, northern Gulf of Mexico

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Marine and Petroleum Geology 25 (2008): 906-918, doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2008.01.012.The Keathley Canyon sites drilled in 2005 by the Chevron Joint Industry Project are located along the southeastern edge of an intraslope minibasin (Casey basin) in the northern Gulf of Mexico at 1335 m water depth. Around the drill sites, a grid of 2D high-resolution multichannel seismic data designed to image depths down to at least 1000 m sub-bottom reveals 7 unconformities and disconformities that, with the seafloor, bound 7 identifiable seismic stratigraphic units. A major disconformity in the middle of the units stands out for its angular baselapping geometry. From these data, three episodes of sedimentary deposition and deformation are inferred. The oldest episode consists of fine-grained muds deposited during a period of relative stability in the basin (units e, f, and g). Both the BSR and inferred gas hydrate occur within these older units. The gas hydrate occurs in near-vertical fractures. A second episode (units c and d) involved large vertical displacements associated with infilling and ponding of sediment. This second interval corresponds to deposition of intercalated fine and coarse-grained material that was recovered in the drill hole that penetrated the thin edges of the regionally much thicker units. The final episode of deposition (units a and b) occurred during more subdued vertical motions. Hemipelagic drape (unit a) characterizes the modern seafloor. The present-day Casey basin is mostly filled. Its sill is part of a subsiding graben structure that is only 10–20 m shallower than the deepest point in the basin, indicating that gravity-driven transport would mostly bypass the basin. Contemporary faulting along the basin margins has selectively reactivated an older group of faults. The intercalated sand and mud deposits of units c and d are tentatively correlated with Late Pleistocene deposition derived from the western shelf-edge delta/depocenter of the Mississippi River, which was probably most active from 320 ka to 70 ka [Winker, C.D., Booth, J., 2000. Sedimentary dynamics of the salt-dominated continental slope, Gulf of Mexico: integration of observations from the seafloor, near-surface, and deep subsurface. In: Proceedings of the GCSSEPM Foundation 20th Annual Research Conference, Deep-water Reservoirs of the World, pp. 1059–1086]. The presence of sand within the gas hydrate stability zone (in units c and d) is not sufficient to concentrate gas hydrate even though dispersed gas hydrate occurs deeper in the fractured mud/clay-rich sections of units e and f.Partial support for the field and interpretive aspects of this project were provided by the Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Lab (NETL)

Physical property changes in hydrate-bearingsediment due to depressurization and subsequent repressurization

Physical property measurements of sediment cores containing natural gas hydrate are typically performed on material exposed at least briefly to non-in situ conditions during recovery. To examine effects of a brief excursion from the gas-hydrate stability field, as can occur when pressure cores are transferred to pressurized storage vessels, we measured physical properties on laboratory-formed sand packs containing methane hydrate and methane pore gas. After depressurizing samples to atmospheric pressure, we repressurized them into the methane-hydrate stability field and remeasured their physical properties. Thermal conductivity, shear strength, acoustic compressional and shear wave amplitudes and speeds are compared between the original and depressurized/repressurized samples. X-ray computed tomography (CT) images track how the gas-hydrate distribution changes in the hydrate-cemented sands due to the depressurization/repressurization process. Because depressurization-induced property changes can be substantial and are not easily predicted, particularly in water-saturated, hydrate-bearing sediment, maintaining pressure and temperature conditions throughout the core recovery and measurement process is critical for using laboratory measurements to estimate in situ properties

Influence of gas hydrate morphology on the seismic velocities of sands

This paper reports the results of a series of resonant column tests on specimens where gas hydrate has been formed in sands using an “excess water” technique. In these specimens the amount of hydrate formed is restricted by the amount of gas in the specimen and with an excess of water being present in the pore space. Results of resonant column tests carried out to determine compressional and shear wave velocities suggest that gas hydrate formed in this way are frame supporting. In contrast, the behavior observed in sands where the hydrate is formed from finite water where the remaining pore space is saturated with methane gas, termed in this paper the “excess gas” method, exhibits a cementing behavior, while tetrahydrofuran-hydrate sands or where the hydrate is formed from dissolved methane within the pore water, exhibit a pore-filling behavior for hydrate saturations less than 40%. For sands where the hydrate is formed using the excess water method, much larger volumes of hydrate are required before a significant increase in shear wave velocity occurs, although increases in compressional wave velocity are seen at lower hydrate contents. These results suggest that hydrate interaction with the sediment is strongly dependent on morphology, and that natural hydrate may exhibit contrasting seismic signatures depending upon the geological environment in which it forms.<br/