A new explanation of bending of a snow density profile

The physical meaning of bending of a snow density profile at G2 in Antarctica (665kg/m^3,32m depth below the snow surface) was investigated. It was found that the bending occurred at pressures around 0.1-0.2 MPa. Examination of snow densification mechanisms as a pressure-sintering phenomenon suggested that the bending is related to the initiation of dominance of the dislocation creep mechanism

DIRECT OBSERVATION OF CHARACTERISTIC DISSOCIATION BEHABIORS OF HYDRATE-BEARING CORES BY RAPID-SCANNING X-RAY CT IMAGING

Experiments involving the dissociation of artificial methane-hydrate-bearing sediments were performed using X-ray computed tomography (X-CT, 40 s scanning speed at 2 min intervals) to directly observe dissociation behavior in the sediments and the gas and water flows generated by dissociation. Dissociation by depressurization was performed using a backpressure regulator, and showed that the temperature reduction induced by depressurization depends on the phase equilibrium state of methane hydrate, and that preferential dissociation occurs along the periphery of the core. This behavior is caused by heat flux from the outside of the core, and this controls the dissociation rate. A heat exchanger was installed at one end of the core to simulate thermal stimulation, and propagation of a clear and unidirectional dissociation front was observed. Depending on the heating temperature, the dissociation rate was less than that observed for depressurization. Hot water was also injected at a constant rate from the bottom of the core, and CT images showed the movement of distinct accumulations of dissociated gas being pushed by the hot water. The gas production rate increased immediately after the gas accumulation reached the opposite end of the core where the gas and water flow out.Non UBCUnreviewe

Decomposition of methane hydrates in sand, sandstone, clays and glass beads

Decomposition conditions of methane hydrates in sediments were measured during formation-decomposition cycles. As test sediments, we used silica sand, sandstone, and clays (kaoline and bentonite), which are typical natural materials known as hydrate bearing sediments, and the range of samples cover a range of water saturating abilities. To better understand the results, we also used uniformly sized glass beads. Pore effects on decomposition of these materials were investigated by analyzing the pore-space distributions of the materials and by varying the initial water content of the samples. The results obtained for sand and sandstone samples indicated that the final decomposition temperatures were shifted lower than those for bulk hydrates at the same pressure. Temperature shifts were more negative for smaller initial water contents with the maximum shift being approximately -0.5 K. The results were consistent with those measured for glass beads with nearly the same particle size. For kaoline clays, the shift was at most -1.5 K. We conclude that the decomposition conditions are mainly affected by the pore sizes. The surface textures and mineral components had less influence on the results. We confirmed that glass beads mimic the effect of sediments for sand, sandstone, and kaoline clays, which have little-to-no swelling when put in contact with water. On the other hand, for bentonite particles, the results indicated that methane hydrates formed not only between the particles but also in the interlayers. A thermodynamic promoting effect was found for dilute bentonite solutions, although the positive decomposition-temperature shift was at most +0.5 K.An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2004 American Geophysical Union