Hydrate Bearing Sediments

Methane hydrate, molecules of natural gas trapped in an ice-like cage of water molecules, represents a potentially vast methane resource. Recent discoveries of methane hydrate in arctic and deep-water marine environments have highlighted the need for a better understanding of this substance as a natural storehouse of carbon and a potential energy resource. Methane hydrate deposits can also lead to large-scale submarine slope failures, blowouts, platform foundation failures, and borehole instability. The understanding of hydrate bearing sediments has advanced steadily over the past decade with coring and field production tests. Experimental, modeling, and field studies are underway to advance our understanding of this fascinating resource. Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of naturally occurring gas hydrates, the understanding of the fundamental hydro-thermo-chemo-geomechanical coupled processes associated with gas hydrate formation and hydrate dissociation in porous sediments remains in its infancy.