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Characterization and Quantification of Gas Hydrates in the California Borderlands
Author(s) -
Kannberg P. K.,
Constable S.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl084703
Subject(s) - geology , clathrate hydrate , seafloor spreading , structural basin , electrical resistivity and conductivity , saturation (graph theory) , hydrate , reflection (computer programming) , methane , mineralogy , geomorphology , seismology , geophysics , chemistry , organic chemistry , ecology , mathematics , engineering , combinatorics , computer science , electrical engineering , biology , programming language
Electromagnetic methods are directly sensitive to electrically resistive gas hydrates and can be used to characterize and quantify hydrate deposits. Using a 1 km long deep‐towed marine electromagnetic system, six survey lines were acquired coincident with legacy seismic reflection data in the Santa Cruz Basin in the Outer California Borderlands. While the strongest seismic indicators place hydrate in the central basin, resistors inferred to be hydrate are located predominantly on the flanks of the basin, coincident with gas migration pathways such as faults and steeply dipping strata. Two features consistent with the resistivity profile from previously imaged seafloor methane seeps were also found. Resistivity is related to hydrate saturation through Archie's law, and total hydrate volume of the Santa Cruz Basin is estimated to be 980 × 10 9 m 3 of gas in place.