Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Marine and Petroleum Geology 66 (2015): 434-450, doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.02.033.
Description:
Natural hydrate-bearing sediments from the Nankai Trough, offshore Japan, were studied using the Pressure Core Characterization Tools (PCCTs) to obtain geomechanical, hydrological, electrical, and biological properties under in situ pressure, temperature, and restored effective stress conditions. Measurement results, combined with index-property data and analytical physics-based models, provide unique insight into hydrate-bearing sediments in situ. Tested cores contain some silty-sands, but are predominantly sandy- and clayey-silts. Hydrate saturations Sh range from 0.15 to 0.74, with significant concentrations in the silty-sands. Wave velocity and flexible-wall permeameter measurements on never-depressurized pressure-core sediments suggest hydrates in the coarser-grained zones, the silty-sands where Sh exceeds 0.4, contribute to soil-skeletal stability and are load-bearing. In the sandy- and clayey-silts, where Sh 〈 0.4, the state of effective stress and stress history are significant factors determining sediment stiffness. Controlled depressurization tests show that hydrate dissociation occurs too quickly to maintain thermodynamic equilibrium, and pressure–temperature conditions track the hydrate stability boundary in pure-water, rather than that in seawater, in spite of both the in situ pore water and the water used to maintain specimen pore pressure prior to dissociation being saline. Hydrate dissociation accompanied with fines migration caused up to 2.4% vertical strain contraction. The first-ever direct shear measurements on never-depressurized pressure-core specimens show hydrate-bearing sediments have higher sediment strength and peak friction angle than post-dissociation sediments, but the residual friction angle remains the same in both cases. Permeability measurements made before and after hydrate dissociation demonstrate that water permeability increases after dissociation, but the gain is limited by the transition from hydrate saturation before dissociation to gas saturation after dissociation. In a proof-of-concept study, sediment microbial communities were successfully extracted and stored under high-pressure, anoxic conditions. Depressurized samples of these extractions were incubated in air, where microbes exhibited temperature-dependent growth rates.
Description:
PCCTs were developed with funding to Georgia Tech from the DOE/Chevron Joint Industry Project (JIP), with additional funds from the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. The JIP also funded the Georgia Tech participation in Sapporo. USGS participation in Sapporo was funded through a technical assistance agreement with Chevron (TAA-12-2135/CW928359). Some USGS developments on the IPTC were funded under Interagency Agreement DE-FE0002911 with the U.S. Department of Energy, with additional support from the U.S. Geological Survey. Core acquisition and Japanese participation in this study was supported by the Research Consortium for Methane Hydrate Resources in Japan (MH21 Research Consortium) to carry out Japan's Methane Hydrate R&D Program conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
Keywords:
Methane hydrate
;
Hydrate-bearing sediment
;
Nankai Trough
;
Physical properties
;
Pressure core
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
application/pdf
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