Gas Hydrate System Offshore Chile

Ivan Vargas-Cordero, Michela Giustiniani, Umberta Tinivella, Lucia Villar-Muñoz and Giulia Alessandrini
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Ivan Vargas-Cordero: Calle Capilla 907, Cerro Alegre, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile
Michela Giustiniani: Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale—OGS, 34010 Borgo Grotta Gigante, Italy
Umberta Tinivella: Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale—OGS, 34010 Borgo Grotta Gigante, Italy
Lucia Villar-Muñoz: Centro de Investigación y Formación San Ignacio de Huinay, Hualaihué, Chile
Giulia Alessandrini: Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Sezione Geofisica, Università di Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: In recent decades, the Chilean margin has been extensively investigated to better characterize the complex geological setting through the geophysical data. The analysis of seismic lines allowed us to identify the occurrence of gas hydrates and free gas in many places along the margin and the change of the pore fluid due to the potential hydrate dissociation. The porosity reduction due to the hydrate presence is linked to the slope to identify the area more sensitive in case of natural phenomena or induced by human activities that could determine gas hydrate dissociations and/or leakage of the free gas trapped below the gas-hydrate stability zone. Clearly, the gas hydrate reservoir could be a strategic energy reserve for Chile. The steady-state modelling pointed out that the climate change could determine gas hydrate dissociation, triggering slope failure. This hypothesis is supported by the presence of high concentrations of gas hydrate in correspondence of important seafloor slope. The dissociation of gas hydrate could change the petrophysical characteristics of the subsoil triggering slopes, which already occurred in the past. Consequently, it is required to improve knowledge about the behavior of the gas hydrate system in a function of complex natural phenomena before the exploitation of this important resource.

Keywords: gas hydrate; Chilean margin; porosity; hazard; slope (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: 2021
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