OBS Data Analysis to Quantify Gas Hydrate and Free Gas in the South Shetland Margin (Antarctica)

Sha Song, Umberta Tinivella, Michela Giustiniani, Sunny Singhroha, Stefan Bünz and Giorgio Cassiani
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Sha Song: Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy
Umberta Tinivella: Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale—OGS, 34010 Sgonico, Italy
Michela Giustiniani: Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale—OGS, 34010 Sgonico, Italy
Sunny Singhroha: CAGE—Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, Department of Geosciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Dramsveien 201, 9010 Tromsø, Norway
Stefan Bünz: CAGE—Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, Department of Geosciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Dramsveien 201, 9010 Tromsø, Norway
Giorgio Cassiani: Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: The presence of a gas hydrate reservoir and free gas layer along the South Shetland margin (offshore Antarctic Peninsula) has been well documented in recent years. In order to better characterize gas hydrate reservoirs, with a particular focus on the quantification of gas hydrate and free gas and the petrophysical properties of the subsurface, we performed travel time inversion of ocean-bottom seismometer data in order to obtain detailed P- and S-wave velocity estimates of the sediments. The P-wave velocity field is determined by the inversion of P-wave refractions and reflections, while the S-wave velocity field is obtained from converted-wave reflections received on the horizontal components of ocean-bottom seismometer data. The resulting velocity fields are used to estimate gas hydrate and free gas concentrations using a modified Biot-Geertsma-Smit theory. The results show that hydrate concentration ranges from 10% to 15% of total volume and free gas concentration is approximately 0.3% to 0.8% of total volume. The comparison of Poisson’s ratio with previous studies in this area indicates that the gas hydrate reservoir shows no significant regional variations.

Keywords: gas hydrate; free gas; ocean-bottom seismometer; PS-converted wave; travel time tomography; South Shetland margin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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