Description: Transport of fluids in gas hydrate bearing sediments is largely defined by the reduction of the permeability due to gas hydrate crystals in the pore space. Although the exact knowledge of the permeability behavior as a function of gas hydrate saturation is of crucial importance, state-of-the-art simulation codes for gas production scenarios use theoretically derived permeability equations that are hardly backed by experimental data. The reason for the insufficient validation of the model equations is the difficulty to create gas hydrate bearing sediments that have undergone formation mechanisms equivalent to the natural process and that have well-defined gas hydrate saturations. We formed methane hydrates in quartz sand from a methane-saturated aqueous solution and used Magnetic Resonance Imaging to obtain time-resolved, three-dimensional maps of the gas hydrate saturation distribution. These maps were fed into 3-D Finite Element Method simulations of the water flow. In our simulations, we tested the five most well-known permeability equations. All of the suitable permeability equations include the term (1-SH)n, where SH is the gas hydrate saturation and n is a parameter that needs to be constrained. The most basic equation describing the permeability behavior of water flow through gas hydrate bearing sand is k = k0 (1-SH)n. In our experiments, n was determined to be 11.4 (±0.3). Results from this study can be directly applied to bulk flow analysis under the assumption of homogeneous gas hydrate saturation and can be further used to derive effective permeability models for heterogeneous gas hydrate distributions at different scales.

Description: The presence of gas hydrates (GHs) increases the stiffness and strength of marine sediments. In elasto‐plastic constitutive models, it is common to consider GH saturation (Sh) as key internal variable for defining the contribution of GHs to composite soil mechanical behavior. However, the stress‐strain behavior of GH‐bearing sediments (GHBS) also depends on the microscale distribution of GH and on GH‐sediment fabrics. A thorough analysis of GHBS is difficult, because there is no unique relation between Sh and GH morphology. To improve the understanding of stress‐strain behavior of GHBS in terms of established soil models, this study summarizes results from triaxial compression tests with different Sh, pore fluids, effective confining stresses, and strain histories. Our data indicate that the mechanical behavior of GHBS strongly depends on Sh and GH morphology, and also on the strain‐induced alteration of GH‐sediment fabrics. Hardening‐softening characteristics of GHBS are strain rate‐dependent, which suggests that GH‐sediment fabrics dynamically rearrange during plastic yielding events. We hypothesize that rearrangement of GH‐sediment fabrics, through viscous deformation or transient dissociation and reformation of GHs, results in kinematic hardening, suppressed softening, and secondary strength recovery, which could potentially mitigate or counteract large‐strain failure events. For constitutive modeling approaches, we suggest that strain rate‐dependent micromechanical effects from alterations of the GH‐sediment fabrics can be lumped into a nonconstant residual friction parameter. We propose simple empirical evolution functions for the mechanical properties and calibrate the model parameters against the experimental data. Plain Language Summary Gas hydrates (GHs) are crystalline‐like solids, which are formed from natural gas molecules and water at high pressure and low temperature. GHs, and particularly methane hydrates, are naturally abundant in marine sediments. It is known that the presence of GH increases the mechanical stiffness and strength of sediments, and there is strong effort in analyzing and quantifying these effects in order to understand potential risks of sediment destabilization or slope failure. Based on our experimental results from high‐pressure geotechnical studies, we show that not only the initial amount and distribution of GH are important for the increased strength of GH‐bearing sediments but also the dynamic rearrangement of GH‐sediment fabrics during deformation characterizes the stress‐strain response and enables strength recovery after failure. We propose that different microstructural mechanisms contribute to this rearrangement and strength recovery of GH sediment. However, we consider these complicated processes in a simplified manner in an improved numerical model, which can be applied for geotechnical risk assessment on larger scales.

Description: Free gas migration through the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) and subsequent gas seepage at the seabed are characteristic features in marine gas hydrate provinces worldwide. The biogenic or thermogenic gas is typically transported along faults from deeper sediment strata to the GHSZ. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain free gas transport through the GHSZ. While inhibition of hydrate formation by elevated salinities and temperatures have been addressed previously in studies simulating unfocused, area-wide upward advection of gas, which is not adequately supported by field observations, the role of focused gas flow through chimney-like structures has been underappreciated in this context. Our simulations suggest that gas migration through the GHSZ is, fundamentally, a result of methane gas supply in excess of its consumption by hydrate formation. The required high gas flux is driven by local overpressure, built up from gas accumulating below the base of the GHSZ that fractures the overburden when exceeding a critical pressure, thereby creating the chimney-like migration pathway. Initially rapid hydrate formation raises the temperature in the chimney structure, thereby facilitating further gas transport through the GHSZ. As a consequence, high hydrate saturations form preferentially close to the seafloor, where temperatures drop to bottom water values, producing a prominent subsurface salinity peak. Over time, hydrates form at a lower rate throughout the chimney structure, while initial temperature elevation and salinity peak dissipate. Thus, our simulations suggest that the near-surface salinity peak and elevated temperatures are a result of transient high-flux gas migration through the GHSZ.

Description: Marine sediments host large amounts of methane (CH4), which is a potent greenhouse gas. Quantitative estimates for methane release from marine sediments are scarce, and a poorly constrained temporal variability leads to large uncertainties in methane emission scenarios. Here, we use 2D and 3D seismic reflection, multibeam bathymetric, geochemical and sedimentological data to (I) map and describe pockmarks in the Witch Ground Basin (central North Sea), (II) characterize associated sedimentological and fluid migration structures, and (III) analyze the related methane release. More than 1500 pockmarks of two distinct morphological classes spread over an area of 225 km2. The two classes form independently from another and are corresponding to at least two different sources of fluids. Class 1 pockmarks are large in size (〉 6 m deep, 〉 250 m long, and 〉 75 m wide), show active venting, and are located above vertical fluid conduits that hydraulically connect the seafloor with deep methane sources. Class 2 pockmarks, which comprise 99.5 % of all pockmarks, are smaller (0.9‐3.1 m deep, 26‐140 m long, and 14‐57 m wide) and are limited to the soft, fine‐grained sediments of the Witch Ground Formation and possibly sourced by compaction‐related dewatering. Buried pockmarks within the Witch Ground Formation document distinct phases of pockmark formation, likely triggered by external forces related to environmental changes after deglaciation. Thus, greenhouse gas emissions from pockmark fields cannot be based on pockmark numbers and present‐day fluxes but require an analysis of the pockmark forming processes through geological time.