Dissociation of gas hydrates by hydrocarbon migration and accumulation-derived slope failures: An example from the South China Sea

作者：Zhifeng Wan, Wei Zhang, Chong Ma, Jinqiang Liang, Ang Li, Dajiang Meng, Wei Huang, Yang Cheng-zhi, Jinfeng Zhang, Yuefeng Sun · 发表于：Geoscience Frontiers · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1016/j.gsf.2021.101345 · 被引用次数：35 · 研究领域：Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena、Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis、Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis

The mechanism of slope failure associated with overpressure that is caused by hydrocarbon migration and accumulation remains unclear. High-resolution seismic data and gas hydrate drilling data collected from the Shenhu gas hydrate field (site SH5) offer a valuable opportunity to study the relations between submarine slope failure and hydrocarbon accumulation and flow that is associated with a ∼2 km-diameter gas chimney developed beneath site SH5 where none gas hydrates had been recovered by drilling and sampling despite the presence of distinct bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) and favorable gas hydrate indication. The mechanism of submarine slope failure resulted from buoyancy extrusion and seepage-derived deformation which were caused by overpressure from a ∼1100 m-high gas column in a gas chimney was studied via numerical simulation. The ∼9.55 MPa overpressure caused by hydrocarbons that migrated through the gas chimney and then accumulated beneath subsurface gas hydrate-bearing impermeable sediments. This may have resulted in a submarine slope failure, which disequilibrated the gas hydrate-bearing zone and completely decomposed the gas hydrate once precipitated at site SH5. Before the gas hydrate decomposition, the largely impermeable sediments overlying the gas chimney may have undergone a major upward deformation due to the buoyancy extrusion of the overpressure in the gas chimney, and slope failure was initiated from plastic strain of the sediments and reduced intern...