Scaling of Thermodynamic and Transport Processes for Predicting Methane HydrateSaturation in Marine Sediments Worldwide

摘要

Modeling the accumulation of marine gas hydratesrnhas previously been attempted for specific sites with separaternsources of methane, I.e. biogenic or upward flux from deeperrnsources. We have developed a numerical model in one spatialrndimension that simulates the formation and accumulation ofrnhydrates due to either or a combination of the two sources.rnThe results are scaled using combinations of the dimensionlessrnvariables, such that the dependence of average hydraternsaturation on the numerous parameters can be summarizedrnusing two contour maps, one each for in-situ and deeperrnmethane sources. We also show points corresponding to wellrnstudied hydrate locations on these saturation maps. Asrncompared to the earlier site-specific parameter studies, ourrnmodel presents a unifying picture of hydrate accumulations,rnthat can be used to predict hydrate saturations and distributionrnat sites for which seismic or core data is not available.