Proceedings of the Eleventh (2001) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference Stavanger, Norway, June 17-22, 2001

Copyright 2001 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers ISBN 1-880653-51-6 (SeO; ISBN 1-880653-52-4 (Vol. I); ISSN 1098-6189 (SeO

Global Occurrences of Gas Hydrate

Keith A. Kvenvolden and Thomas D. Lorenson U.S. Geological Survey Menlo Park, CA, USA

ABSTRACT
Natural gas hydrate is found worldwide in sediments of outer continental margins of all oceans and in polar areas with continuous permafrost. There are currently 77 localities identified globally where geophysical, geochemical and/or geological evidence indicates the presence of gas hydrate. Details concerning individual gas-hydrate occurrences are compiled at a new world-wide-web (www) site (http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/globalhydrate). This site has been created to facilitate global gas-hydrate research by providing information on each of the localities where there is evidence for gas hydrate. Also considered are the implications of gas hydrate as a potential (1) energy resource, (2) factor in global climate change, and (3) geohazard.

actual recovery and description of gas-hydrate samples. Pore fluid chemistry and gas compositions (molecular and isotopic) are important aspects of gas-hydrate geochemistry. Finally, geophysical evidence includes data from seismic reflection profiling, seismic refraction-wide angle reflection studies, vertical seismic profiling, and various kinds of well-logging. Seismic reflection profiling is especially valuable for accessing the areal extent of gas-hydrate deposits. Much of the geophysical evidence for oceanic gas hydrate is based on observations of Bottom-Simulating Reflectors (BSRs) on marine seismic records. These anomalous reflections result from the acoustical difference between hydrate-bearing sediments within the hydrate-stability zone (HSZ) and non-hydrate bearing, gassy sediment below the HSZ (Shipley et al., 1979). OCCURRENCES OF GAS HYDRATE

KEY WORDS: gas hydrate, methane, BSR, resource, climate change, geohazard INTRODUCTION Interest in naturally occurring gas hydrate has increased steadily since about 1969 when Vasil'ev et al. (1970) recognized that natural gas could form gas-hydrate deposits that should occur globally wherever the pressure and temperature conditions are favorable. Recognition of the potential for natural gas-hydrate occurrence was followed by its discovery, first in permafrost regions of northern Russia (Makogon et al., 1971, 1972). It was then observed in sediment of the Black Sea (Yefremova and Zhizhchenko, 1974) and inferred by seismic surveys to be present in sediment of the Blake Ridge, in the western Atlantic Ocean (Stoll et al., 1971; Ewing and Hollister, 1972). By the early 1980s, gas hydrate had been found in outer continental margin sediment of the Middle America Trench offshore from Mexico (Shipley and Didyk, 1982) and Guatemala (Harrison and Curiale, 1982). Since then, the rate of discovery of evidence for gas hydrate has accelerated. The early history of discovery of gas hydrate has been summarized by Kvenvolden (2000). EVIDENCE FOR GAS HYDRATE Three kinds of evidence have been used to identify the presence of natural gas hydrate--geological, geochemical, and geophysical. Geological evidence includes sediment properties, stratigraphic relationships, gas-migration pathways, and, most importantly, the

A compilation of global gas-hydrate occurrences was first undertaken by Kvenvolden and McMenamin (1980). They showed 14 areas (9 oceanic and 5 continental) where geophysical and some geochemical evidence indicated gas hydrate. Much of the geophysical evidence for oceanic gas hydrate was based on the observations of BSRs on marine seismic records. By 1988 the number of identified gas-hydrate regions had increased to 38 (30 oceanic including inland seas and 8 continental) (Kvenvolden, 1988). Independently, Panayev (1987) and Ginsburg et al. (1990) identified 22 and 36 regions, respectively, where subaquatic gas hydrate occurs. Kvenvolden et al. (1993) listed 47 locations worldwide where sub-aquatic gas hydrate could be expected, and gas-hydrate samples were recovered at 14 of these locations. International interest in gas hydrate is increasing rapidly with the recognition that the sequestered methane may be useful as an energy resource and may be a factor in global climate change. With this increasing interest it seems appropriate to review the inventory of known and inferred gas hydrate occurrences, both oceanic and continental. There are currently 77 localities identified globally where geophysical, geochemical and/or geological evidence indicates the presence of gas hydrate (Fig. 1). At 23 of these localities, gas-hydrate samples have been recovered and described. Details concerning individual gas-hydrate occurrences are compiled at a new world-wideweb (www) site (h~:llwalrus.wr.usgs.govlglobalhs, drate). This site has been created to facilitate global gas-hydrate research by providing information on each locality where there is evidence for gas hydrate. Preliminary information for this site is summarized here, with

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Fig.ure 1. Map showing worldwide locations of known and inferred gas hydrate in aquatic (oceans, seas, and lakes) sediment and in polar continental sediment. Open circles indicate locations where samples of natural gas hydrate have been recovered. Filled circles indicate locations of the inferred presence of natural gas hydrate. Boxes marked C5-C8 indicate areas in which gas hydrate is inferred to occur.

appropriate references for each gas-hydrate occurrence at this website (Table 1). To describe this inventory, the worldwide distribution of gas hydrate has been organized into seven regions, with basic information tabulated in Table 1. The seven geographic regions of gas-hydrate occurrence are Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, North (Arctic, Oceanic), South (Antarctica), Other (Inland Seas and Lakes), and Continental. At present there are 35 locations in the Pacific Ocean (P 1P35), 3 in the Indian Ocean, (I 1-I3), 19 in the Atlantic Ocean (A 1A19), 3 in the North (Arctic Ocean) (N1-N3), 4 in the South (Antarctica) (S1-$4), 5 in Other (O 1-O5), and 8 in Continental (C1C8). These global locations of known and inferred natural gas hydrate are shown on Figure 1. The global gas hydrate www site is a work in progress. Besides providing references to all of the known gas-hydrate occurrences, the site also gives other kinds of information such as abstracts from the references and technical comments. Additional information, such as
463

seismic lines, well-logs, geochemical measurements, sample photographs, etc., will be displayed at the site when available.
AMOUNT OF METHANE

All estimates of the methane content of methane hydrate are highly speculative, but they suggest that methane quantities are very large (Kvenvolden, 1999). Cherskiy and Makogon (1970) proposed that the amount of methane in natural gas hydrate is potentially "enormous." Early estimates ranged from 1.7 to 4,100 exagrams (exagram = 1018 g) of methane carbon for oceanic sediment and from 0.0075 to 18 exagrams of methane carbon for polar regions (summarized by the Potential Gas Committee, 1981). The SI unit 'exagram' is used here and in later discussion because it minimizes the need for exponents. Because oceanic gas hydrate deposits are much more voluminous than polar-region gas hydrate accumulations, the oceanic gas hydrate is

Table 1. Summary of known and inferred subaquatic gas-hydrate occurrences in the Pacific, Indian Oceans, and Atlantic Oceans; in polar oceans and continents; and in inland seas and lakes. [BSR, bottom-simulating reflection; <CI', low chloride content of pore water; CH4, high methane content; VAMPs, velocity amplitude pulldowns; Logs, well-log response; PCS, Pressure core sample; Geophysical, seismic evidence of past occurrence of gas hydrate]
Designation

Table 1 cont. Designation

Location Offshore

Evidence

P27 P28 P29 P30 P31 P31 P32 P33

Location Offshore

Evidence

Japan, Offshore Chiba Basin i Japan, Kuril Trench (off Tokachi/Hidaka) New Zealand (Hikurangi Trough) Chile (Peru-Chile Trench) Peru (Peru-Chile Trench)

BSR BSR BSR BSR, CH4, <C1BSR Samples BSR BSR CH4 BSR BSR BSR BSR BSR BSR BSR BSR BSR BSR BSR Samples BSR, Slumps Samples, <C1BSR, Samples, Logs BSR BSR BSR BSR, Slumps, <CI" r CH4, <C1! BSR BSR . Samples . Geophysical Slumps j Samples BSR, Slumps Logs . Logs BSR CH4, <C1BSR BSR

PACIFIC OCEAN P1 , Panama P2 Costa Rica (Middle America Trench) P2 [ (DSDP Leg 84) ,, P2 I (ODp Leg 770) P3 ' Nicaragua (Middle America Trench) P4 Guatemala (Middle America Trench) P4 I (DSDP Leg 67)
! !

(ODP Leg 1!7)

BSR BSR Samples Samples BSR BSR Samples, <Cl" Samples, Logs, <CI" BSR Samples BSR BSR, Samples BSR Samples Samples BSR Slumps BSR
I

P4 P5 P5 P6 P7 P8
P8

(DSDP Leg 84) Mexico (Middle America Trench (DSDP Leg 66) Mexico (Gulf of California, Guaymas Basin) California, USA (Eel River Basin) Oregon, USA (Cascadia Basin) (ODP Leg 146) (Hydrate Ridge) Canada (Cascadia Basin) (Fjords of British Columbia) Alaska, USA (Eastern Aleutian Trench) Alaska, USA (Middle Aleutian Trench), Bering,,Sea (Alaska, USA), (USA, Bering Sea Shelf) ..... (USA/Russia, Navarin Margin) (Russia, Shirshov Ridge) Okhotsk Sea (Paramushir Island, Russia) (Sahkalin Island, Russia) (off Abashiri, KitamiYamato Mount, Japan) ,, Japan Sea (DSDP Leg 57) (Okushiri Ridge, ODP Leg 127) (Western Tsugaru Basin) ..... (Tatar Trough) Japan, Nankai Trough (off eastern Miyazaki) (off southern Shikoku) (ODP Leg 131) (Muroto Trough) (Kumano-nada thru off Omaezaki Cape)

, P8

P9 ~P10 'Pll
I

Taiwan (South China Sea) Australia (Tasman Sea, Lord Howe Rise) P34 (Timor Trough) P35 Indonesia (Celebes Sea) INDIAN OCEAN I1 Oman (Gulf of Oman, Makran Margin) I2 India (Arabian Sea) I3 . (Bay ofBengal ) ATLANTIC OCEAN A1 Argentina (Central Argentine Basin) Brazil (Amazon Fan) A2 (Pelotas Basin) A3 Barbados (Barbados Ridge) A4 Southern Caribbean Sea A5 Panama and Colombia A6 (Colombia Basin) Gulf of Mexico (off A7 Mexico, western area) (offUSA, northern area) A8 Southeastern USA (Blake A9 Ridge) (DSDP Leg 76) A9 (ODP Leg 164) A9 A10 Eastern USA (Carolina Trough), Eastern USA (Continental Rise) Newfoundland, Canada (Laborador Shelf) Norway (Storegga Slide)

P12
I

BSR, <C1VAMPs BSR BSR BSR Samples Samples BSR <C1BSR, Sample
I BSR

, P13
i

All A12 A13

P14 PI5 P16 P17

P18 I P19 P20 P20 P21 P22 P23 P24 P24 i P25 i P26

BSR BSR BSR Sample BSR BSR, CH4, <C1-

A13 , (ODP Leg 104) A 14 (Barents Sea) A15 (off Svalbard) A16 (Haakon-Mosby mud vol.) A17 Ireland (Porcupine Basin) A18 Africa (S.W. Africa) A19 , (Nigeria) .,, .... .NORTH (Arctic) N1 Alaska (Beaufort Sea) N2 Canada (Beaufort Sea) N3 ~ Canada (Sverdrup Basin) SOUTH (Antarctic) S1 Antarctica (Wilkes Land Margin) $2 (Ross Sea) $3 (Weddell Sea) $4 (South Shetland margin)
464

Table 1 cont. Designation I Location Offshore OTHER (INLAND SEAS AND LAKES)
O1 02 03 04

Evidence

Black Sea, Russia Samples Caspian Sea, Russia Samples Lake Baikal, Russia BSR, Samples Mediterranean Sea (ODP <CI-, CH4 Leg 160) 05 Turkey (Kula mud volcano) Sample CONTINENTAL C1 Alaska (North Slope) Logs, PCS C2 Canada (Mackenzie Delta) Samples, Logs C3 (Arctic Islands) Logs C4 Russia (Messoyakah Field) CH4 (Yiman-Pechora Province) . Interpretation C5 (Western Siberian C6 Interpretation Platform) (Eastern Siberian craton) C7 Interpretation (Northeast Siberia) C8 Interpretation

global climate change, and (3) geohazard. With the increasing worldwide interest in gas hydrate, ready access to background information for future research on the global distribution and significance of naturally occurring gas hydrate is important to the gas hydrate community.

Resource
Methane is the most important energy component in natural gas, and a significant portion of world industry depends on methane for fuel. With its large methane content, gas hydrate is a very attractive potential energy source. Gas hydrate is located within 2000 m of the solid surface, making this methane technologically within reach of the drill bit. Although restricted to polar regions and outer continental margins, gas hydrate is geographically distributed worldwide, making the methane a possible international commodity. Methane-hydrate's energy density (volume of methane at standard conditions per volume of sediment) is ten-times greater than that of other unconventional gas sources, such as coal beds, tight sands, black shales, and deep aquifers; it is two- to five-times greater than the energy density of conventional natural gas, depending on the depth of gas-hydrate occurrence (MacDonald, 1990b). Interest in gas hydrate by the energy industries has vacillated over the past 30 years, but interest is presently increasing, especially in those nations that face or will face an energy shortage in the near future. Two countries, Japan and India, have undertaken major efforts to investigate gas hydrate as a potential energy resource. The successful discovery in 1999 of gas hydrate offshore from Japan, as part of a fiveyear study by a Japanese industrial consortium, is a step forward in the direct evaluation of gas hydrate as a potential energy resource (JNOC press release, 2000). It should be remembered, however, that difficult scientific and technological problems, such as generally poor reservoir characteristics and difficult geographic locations for exploitation, must be addressed and solved before methane hydrate can ever be used as an economical source of fossil fuel (Kvenvolden, 1999).

emphasized in global estimates of the methane content of gas hydrate. During the late 1980s, estimates of methane in gas hydrate were greatly constrained when Kvenvolden (1988) and MacDonald (1990a), working independently, estimated the global methane-carbon content of gas hydrate to be 11 and 12 exagrams, respectively. These nearly equal estimates are coincidental, but the convergence of independent ideas made this value, expressed to one significant figure as 10 exagrams, the consensus estimate. In the 1990s some new estimates were made using the power of general circulation models (GCMs) in which pertinent variables, such as pressure-temperature phase relations, geothermal gradients, and sediment porosities, are entered into a 1o x 1 global grid (Gornitz and Fung, 1994; Harvey and Huang, 1995). Other global estimates of methane-carbon in gas hydrate were made during the same period, extrapolating from measurements obtained at the Blake Ridge (Holbrook et al., 1996; Dickens et al., 1997a). In addition, estimates by Makogon, (1997) and Ginsburg and Soloviev (1998) were based on theoretical and empirical information. The estimates published in the 1990s are summarized in Table 2. The best estimates range from a low of 0.5 to a high of 24 exagrams. The consensus value of 10 exagrams of methane carbon in gas hydrate worldwide remains about midway between these extremes.

Climate
Methane in natural gas not only serves as a combustible fuel from which energy is derived, it also acts as a greenhouse gas when present in the atmosphere. Although methane has a global warming-potential 20-times greater than the equivalent weight of carbon dioxide, when integrated over 100 years, (Shine et al., 1990), its half-life in the atmosphere is very short, about 10 years. Its concentration is also lower than carbon dioxide by a factor of about 160 (Cicerone and Oremland, 1988). The greenhouse effects of methane in the present atmosphere are, therefore, much less than those caused by carbon dioxide and water vapor. On the other hand, the amount of methane in gas hydrate is estimated to be about 3000 times that in the atmosphere. If an appreciable proportion of that methane entered the atmosphere, the effect on global temperatures could be significant (MacDonald, 1990a). There has been speculation that methane released from destabilized gas hydrate could affect global climate. For example, Nisbet (1990) suggested that methane released from continental gas hydrate caused warming that helped to end the last ice age, and Paull et al. (1991) speculated that methane released from oceanic gas hydrate limited the extent of glaciation during glacial cycles. These scenarios have not been proven. Determining the possible role of gas hydrate in climate change is difficult. In fact, just demonstrating the fate of methane from destabilized gas hydrate has proven to be elusive. A study testing the hypothesis that gas hydrate in polar continental shelves is currently decomposing and releasing methane to the ocean failed to provide convincing evidence (Kvenvolden, 1999). Large excursions in the carbon isotopic record of carbonate in oceanic sediment during the

Table 2. Estimates made during the 1990s of the amount of methane

carbon [exagrams (10 TM g)] in natural gas hydrate.

Estimate (exagrams) Range Best

14 to 75 15 to 49
m

Method
GCM 1 GCM ~ Extrapolation2 Extrapolation2 Theoretical Empirical

Reference
Gomitz & Fung (1994) Harvey & Huang (1995) Holbrook et al. (1996) Dickens et al. (1997) Makogon (1997) Ginsburg & Soloviev (1995)

14 24 ---3 8 0.5

1to 10

1GCM, General Circulation Models 2Extrapolation from one geographic area to worldwide estimate IMPLICATIONS The global gas hydrate www site will also provide discussion with references to the important implications of gas hydrate. Gas hydrate has global importance as a potential (1) energy resource, (2) factor in

465

latest Paleocene (Dickens et al., 1995; 1997b) provided compelling evidence that methane from destabilized gas hydrate has affected the global oceanic carbonate record. Because it is uncertain if the methane and its oxidized product, carbon dioxide, ever reached the atmosphere to affect radiative properties, i.e., act as greenhouse gases, a link to global climate change has not been demonstrated. Thus, the case relating gas hydrate and global climate change is still open.
Hazard

Dickens, GR, Castillo, MM, and Walker, JCG (1997b). "A blast of gas in the latest Paleocene: simulating first order effects of massive dissociation of oceanic methane hydrate," Geology, Vol 25, pp 259262. Dickens, GR, O'Neil, JR, Rea, DK, and Owen, RM (1995). "Dissociation of oceanic methane hydrate as a cause of the carbon isotope excursion at the end of the Paleocene," Paleoceanography, Vol 10, pp 965-971. Dickens, GR, Paull, CK, Wallace, P, and ODP Leg 164 Scientific Party (1997a). "Direct measurement of in situ methane quantities in a large gas-hydrate reservoir," Nature (London), Vol 385, No 6615, pp 426428. Dillon, WP, Danforth, WW, Hutchinson, DR, Drury, RM, Taylor, MH, and Booth, JS (1998). "Evidence for faulting related to dissociation of gas hydrate and release of methane off the southeastern United States," in Gas Hydrates--Relevance to Worm Margin Stability and Climatic Change, edited by J.-P Henriet and J. Mienert, The Geological Society, London, Special Publication 137, pp 293-302. Ewing, JI, and Hollister, CH (1972). "Regional aspects of deep sea drillin! western North Atlantic," Initial Reports, Deep Sea Drilling Projectl 1, pp 973. Ginsburg, GD and Soloviev, VA (1998). "Submarine Gas Hydrates," Translated from Russian, Norma Publishers, St. Petersburg, Russia, 216 pp. Ginsburg, GD, Gramberg, IS, and Soloviev, VA (1990). "Gas hydrates of continental slopes," Geologiya Nefti i Gaza, Vol 11, pp 43-45. Gornitz, V, and Fung, I (1994). "Potential distribution of methane hydrates in the world's ocean," Global Biogeochemieal Cycles, Vol 8, pp 335-347. Harrison, WE, and Curiale, JA (1982). "Gas hydrates in sediments of holes 497 and 498A, Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 67," Initial Reports, Deep Sea Drilling Project, 67, pp 591-594. Harvey, LDD, and Huang, Z (1995). "Evaluation of the potential impact of methane clathrate destabilization on future global warming," Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol 100, No D20, pp 2905-2926. Holbrook, WS, Hoskins, H, Wood, WT, Stephen, RA, Lizarralde, D, and Leg 164 Science Party (1996). "Methane hydrate and free gas on the Blake Ridge from vertical seismic profiling," Science, Vo1273, pp 1840-1843. Jansen, E, Befring, S, Bugge, T, Eidvin, T, Hotedahl, H, and Sejrup, HP (1987). "Large submarine slides on the Norwegian continental margin: sediments, transport and timing," Marine Geology, Vol 78, pp 77-107.

A possible connection between gas hydrate and submarine slope failure was first articulated by McIver (1977). Although no one has observed these failures taking place, the evidence is very convincing. For example, a giant collapse structure on the Blake Ridge (Dillon et al., 1998) may have resulted from the catastrophic release of gas from destabilized gas hydrate. That the giant Storrega slide offshore from Norway was triggered by gas released from gas hydrate has attracted a number of adherents (Jansen et al., 1987; Bugge et al., 1987; Mienert et al., 1998). These examples and others strongly support the idea that gas hydrate is an important agent in modifying the morphology of the seafloor and constitutes a significant submarine geohazard. Of the three global issues posed by gas hydrate--resource, climate, and hazard--the latter appears to be the most relevant to human welfare in the near term (Kvenvolden, 1999). This relevance comes from the fact that humankind is exploiting the seafloor at everincreasing water depths in its search for new sources of petroleumbased energy. The presence of gas hydrate at or near the seafloor makes this interval potentially unstable. Such instability can affect engineering structures, such as petroleum production platforms and pipeline installations that are located on the seafloor. Thus, the search for petroleum-based energy sources in the deep ocean is confounded by the presence of gas hydrate, but the possibility exists that the confounding gas hydrate may later prove to be an energy resource itsellq
CONCLUSION

Natural gas hydrate is a global phenomenon now receiving international attention. It occurs worldwide but is restricted to two environments--in polar continental and deep water (mostly on outer continental and insular margins) sediment of the shallow geosphere. An inventory of global occurrences shows 77 places in which the presence of gas hydrate is inferred by geophysical, geochemical, and geological methods. This inventory includes 23 places where samples of the substance have actually been recovered. Details concerning individual gas-hydrate occurrences and the global implications of gas hydrate are discussed at a new world-wide-web (www) site (_http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/globalhydrate). The potential amount of methane in global gas-hydrate occurrences is very large, with current estimates converging at about 10 exagrams of methane carbon. Interest in gas hydrate is increasing because of its potential as (1) an energy source, (2) a factor in climate change, and (3) a submarine geohazard. This new web site has been created to help facilitate global gas-hydrate research.
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