Can Fractures in Soft Sediments Host Significant Quantities of Gas Hydrates?
T. McGee and C. Lutken Center for Marine Resources and Environmental Technology University of Mississippi There has been much discussion recently concerning what type of geologic feature in the Gulf of Mexico would most likely contain significant accumulations of gas hydrate. The interest arises from an expectation that someday commercial quantities of natural gas will be produced from hydrates. Although it is not difficult to image, seismically, the various geologic structures within the hydrate stability zone, there is little consensus as to which structures should be considered serious candidates for exploratory drilling. Some investigators are of the opinion that commercial hydrates will be produced first from sandy sediments because porosity and permeability are greater there than in silts and clays. Others say that most hydrates will be found in fractures within fine-grained sediments. The latter scenario seems to be more in agreement with laboratory results. Hydrates have been c
