Effect of Non-Hydrostatic Pore Pressure on the Depth to the Base of the Hydrate Stability Zone

• Main Author: Robert W. Lankston
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Mackenzie Delta; Northwest Territories; north slope; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.624.1406; http://www.geoconvention.org/archives/2009abstracts/154.pdf

Regional estimates of the base of gas hydrate stability in settings like the North Slope of Alaska, the Mackenzie Delta in the Northwest Territories, and even the Gulf of Mexico generally assume a hydrostatic pore fluid pressure model. While this may be suitable for some purposes, the actual pressure in a hydrate reservoir may be significantly above hydrostatic. The result is that the local base of hydrate stability in the reservoir may be deeper than the regional estimate. This has implications for estimating hydrate volume and safely drilling in the zone of 100 m or more below the estimated regional base of hydrate stability.