Click
to view article in PDF format.
GCSeafloor Observatory Will Monitor Deepwater Gas Hydrate System
By
Tom McGee1 and Bob A. Hardage2
Search and Discovery Article #40191 (2006)
Posted May 14, 2006
*Adapted from the Geophysical Corner column, prepared by the authors and entitled, “Hydrate System to be Monitored,” in AAPG Explorer, May, 2006. Editor of Geophysical Corner is Bob A. Hardage. Managing Editor of AAPG Explorer is Vern Stefanic; Larry Nation is Communications Director.
1University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677 ([email protected])
2Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas ([email protected])
Background
A project to design, construct, and deploy a seafloor monitoring station across a deepwater hydrate mound in Mississippi Canyon Block 118 (MC 118) has been initiated by the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium, which is composed of 15 universities, five federal agencies, and several private corporations.
The consortium is managed by the Center for Marine Research and Environmental Technology at the University of Mississippi. The monitoring station project is funded by the Minerals Management Service of the Department of the Interior, the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the Department of Energy, and the National Undersea Research Program of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce.
The monitoring station will have three types of seafloor observation systems:
-
Geochemical
-
Microbial
-
Seismic
A representation of the station and its component systems is shown as Figure 1. The data recovery system (“Big M”) shown in the background is an interim option for downloading data to a ship. Eventually, the station will be connected to shore by an optic-fiber cable.
uBackgrounduFigure captionsuGeochemistry datauMicrobiology datauSeismic datauDeploymentuSeismic monitoring
uBackgrounduFigure captionsuGeochemistry datauMicrobiology datauSeismic datauDeploymentuSeismic monitoring
uBackgrounduFigure captionsuGeochemistry datauMicrobiology datauSeismic datauDeploymentuSeismic monitoring
|
Geochemistry DataGeochemical observations will be made within seafloor sediments, at the sea floor, and in the lower water column. Geochemical sensors include:
A mass spectrometer will perform chemical analyses on the seafloor.
Microbiology DataThe microbial observatory will monitor various aspects of:
Monitoring sensors will include retrievable, pressurized seafloor test cells and bioreactors, high-surface-area sampling plates of different materials, low-light digital cameras, and devices to retrieve samples under in-situ conditions.
Research goals include:
Fine-grained magnetic sulfides that originate with magnetotactic bacteria and then accumulate in gas hydrates will be monitored as possible locators of hydrate deposits. Seismic Data
Seismic data will be collected with six Each horizontal array of hydrophones and 3-C accelerometers will be 400 meters long. Four horizontal arrays will be deployed in an orthogonal cross to create arm lengths equal to water depth (~800 meters). DeploymentThe monitoring station is being deployed near a hydrate mound in water more than 800 meters deep in Block MC 118 (Figure 2). The mound is located inside the distorted bathymetry contours in the lower part of Figure 2. The Minerals Management Service has reserved a large portion of Block MC 118 (the area inside the “MMS Reserve Boundary” in Figure 2) for exclusive use of the monitoring station and associated research. Pre-installation surveys began in January, 2005. The first observing systems, a pore-fluid sampler and an array of sub-bottom thermisters were installed in May, 2005. Installation is continuing in stages until the monitoring station is complete. Completion is expected in 2007. Seismic MonitoringWhen fully operational, the observatory will generate about nine gigabytes of data per hour. Almost all of this data flow will come from seismic sensors operating in continuous acquisition mode.
A conventional image of the mound will be
created by inverting data acquired using conventional seismic sources.
Monitoring will consist of comparing this conventional image to
subsequent images obtained using ambient
A procedure for imaging the mound using the
Attempts will be made to obtain images using
other types of ambient |