Relation between Gas Hydrate and Physical Properties at the Mallik 2L-38 Research Well in the Mackenzie Delta

Abstract

Abstract: As part of an interdisciplinary field program, a 1150-m deep well was drilled in the Canadian Arctic to determine, among other goals, the location, characteristics, and properties of gas hydrate. Numerous physical properties of the host sediment were measured in the laboratory and are presented in relation to the lithology and quantity of in situ gas hydrate. Profiles of measured and derived properties presented from that investigation include: sediment wet bulk density, water content, porosity, grain density, salinity, gas hydrate content (percent occupancy of non-sediment grain void space), grain size, porosity, and post-recovery core temperature. The greatest concentration of gas hydrate is located within sand and gravel deposits between 897 and 922 m. Silty sediment between 926 and 952 m contained substantially less, or no, gas hydrate perhaps because of smaller pore size.