A Preliminary Study of the Gas Hydrate Stability Zone in the South China Sea

• Published in: Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition
• Main Authors: Chunshuang, JIN, Jiyang, WANG
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2002
• Subjects: Methane hydrate
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-6724.2002.tb00095.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1755-6724.2002.tb00095.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1755-6724.2002.tb00095.x

Abstract Based on the analysis of sea‐bottom temperature and geothermal gradient, and by means of the phase boundary curve of gas hydrate and the sea‐bottom temperature versus water depth curve in the South China Sea, this paper studies the temperature and pressure conditions for gas hydrate to keep stable. In a marine environment, methane hydrate keeps stable at water depths greater than 550 m in the South China Sea. Further, the thickness of the gas hydrate stability zone in the South China Sea was calculated by using the phase boundary curve and temperature‐depth equations. The result shows that gas hydrate have a better perspective in the southeast of the Dongsha Islands, the northeast of the Xisha Islands and the north of the Nansha Islands for thicker stability zones.