Crustal fingering facilitates free-gas methane migration through the hydrate stability zone
Widespread seafloor methane venting has been reported in many regions of the world oceans in the past decade. Identifying and quantifying where and how much methane is being released into the ocean remains a major challenge and a critical gap in assessing the global carbon budget and predicting futu...
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:4bq6j-y1f89 2024-10-13T14:08:58+00:00 Crustal fingering facilitates free-gas methane migration through the hydrate stability zone Fu, Xiaojing Jimenez-Martinez, Joaquin Nguyen, Thanh Phong Carey, J. William Viswanathan, Harl Cueto-Felgueroso, Luis Juanes, Ruben 2020-12-15 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011064117 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/PMC7749334 unknown National Academy of Sciences https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011064117 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/PMC7749334 eprintid:106845 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Other Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(50), 31660-31664, (2020-12-15) methane hydrate pattern formation microfluidics phase-field method info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2020 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011064117 2024-09-25T18:46:38Z Widespread seafloor methane venting has been reported in many regions of the world oceans in the past decade. Identifying and quantifying where and how much methane is being released into the ocean remains a major challenge and a critical gap in assessing the global carbon budget and predicting future climate [C. Ruppel, J. D. Kessler. Rev. Geophys. 55, 126–168 (2017)]. Methane hydrate (CH₄⋅5.75H₂O) is an ice-like solid that forms from methane–water mixture under elevated-pressure and low-temperature conditions typical of the deep marine settings (>600-m depth), often referred to as the hydrate stability zone (HSZ). Wide-ranging field evidence indicates that methane seepage often coexists with hydrate-bearing sediments within the HSZ, suggesting that hydrate formation may play an important role during the gas-migration process. At a depth that is too shallow for hydrate formation, existing theories suggest that gas migration occurs via capillary invasion and/or initiation and propagation of fractures (Fig. 1). Within the HSZ, however, a theoretical mechanism that addresses the way in which hydrate formation participates in the gas-percolation process is missing. Here, we study, experimentally and computationally, the mechanics of gas percolation under hydrate-forming conditions. We uncover a phenomenon—crustal fingering—and demonstrate how it may control methane-gas migration in ocean sediments within the HSZ. © 2020 National Academy of Sciences. Published under the PNAS license. Edited by David A. Weitz, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and approved November 3, 2020 (received for review May 30, 2020). PNAS first published November 30, 2020. We thank Carolyn Ruppel and William Waite from the US Geological Survey; Peter Flemings, Kehua You, and Dylan Meyer from the University of Texas at Austin; Gareth Crutchley from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel for insightful discussions; and David Santillán (Technical University of Madrid) and Ehsan Haghigat (MIT) for help with the code ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Methane hydrate Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Austin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 50 31660 31664 |
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
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methane hydrate pattern formation microfluidics phase-field method |
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methane hydrate pattern formation microfluidics phase-field method Fu, Xiaojing Jimenez-Martinez, Joaquin Nguyen, Thanh Phong Carey, J. William Viswanathan, Harl Cueto-Felgueroso, Luis Juanes, Ruben Crustal fingering facilitates free-gas methane migration through the hydrate stability zone |
topic_facet |
methane hydrate pattern formation microfluidics phase-field method |
description |
Widespread seafloor methane venting has been reported in many regions of the world oceans in the past decade. Identifying and quantifying where and how much methane is being released into the ocean remains a major challenge and a critical gap in assessing the global carbon budget and predicting future climate [C. Ruppel, J. D. Kessler. Rev. Geophys. 55, 126–168 (2017)]. Methane hydrate (CH₄⋅5.75H₂O) is an ice-like solid that forms from methane–water mixture under elevated-pressure and low-temperature conditions typical of the deep marine settings (>600-m depth), often referred to as the hydrate stability zone (HSZ). Wide-ranging field evidence indicates that methane seepage often coexists with hydrate-bearing sediments within the HSZ, suggesting that hydrate formation may play an important role during the gas-migration process. At a depth that is too shallow for hydrate formation, existing theories suggest that gas migration occurs via capillary invasion and/or initiation and propagation of fractures (Fig. 1). Within the HSZ, however, a theoretical mechanism that addresses the way in which hydrate formation participates in the gas-percolation process is missing. Here, we study, experimentally and computationally, the mechanics of gas percolation under hydrate-forming conditions. We uncover a phenomenon—crustal fingering—and demonstrate how it may control methane-gas migration in ocean sediments within the HSZ. © 2020 National Academy of Sciences. Published under the PNAS license. Edited by David A. Weitz, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and approved November 3, 2020 (received for review May 30, 2020). PNAS first published November 30, 2020. We thank Carolyn Ruppel and William Waite from the US Geological Survey; Peter Flemings, Kehua You, and Dylan Meyer from the University of Texas at Austin; Gareth Crutchley from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel for insightful discussions; and David Santillán (Technical University of Madrid) and Ehsan Haghigat (MIT) for help with the code ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fu, Xiaojing Jimenez-Martinez, Joaquin Nguyen, Thanh Phong Carey, J. William Viswanathan, Harl Cueto-Felgueroso, Luis Juanes, Ruben |
author_facet |
Fu, Xiaojing Jimenez-Martinez, Joaquin Nguyen, Thanh Phong Carey, J. William Viswanathan, Harl Cueto-Felgueroso, Luis Juanes, Ruben |
author_sort |
Fu, Xiaojing |
title |
Crustal fingering facilitates free-gas methane migration through the hydrate stability zone |
title_short |
Crustal fingering facilitates free-gas methane migration through the hydrate stability zone |
title_full |
Crustal fingering facilitates free-gas methane migration through the hydrate stability zone |
title_fullStr |
Crustal fingering facilitates free-gas methane migration through the hydrate stability zone |
title_full_unstemmed |
Crustal fingering facilitates free-gas methane migration through the hydrate stability zone |
title_sort |
crustal fingering facilitates free-gas methane migration through the hydrate stability zone |
publisher |
National Academy of Sciences |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011064117 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/PMC7749334 |
geographic |
Austin |
geographic_facet |
Austin |
genre |
Methane hydrate |
genre_facet |
Methane hydrate |
op_source |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(50), 31660-31664, (2020-12-15) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011064117 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/PMC7749334 eprintid:106845 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011064117 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
container_volume |
117 |
container_issue |
50 |
container_start_page |
31660 |
op_container_end_page |
31664 |
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1812815772957802496 |