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Elevated elastic velocities are a distinct physical property of gas hydrate‐bearing sediments. A number of velocity models and equations (e.g., pore‐filling model, cementation model, effective medium theories, weighted equations, and time‐average equations) have been used to describe this effect. In particular, the weighted equation and effective medium theory predict reasonably well the elastic properties of unconsolidated gas hydrate‐bearing sediments. A weakness of the weighted equation is its use of the empirical relationship of the time‐average equation as one element of the equation. One drawback of the effective medium theory is its prediction of unreasonably higher shear‐wave velocity at high porosities, so that the predicted velocity ratio does not agree well with the observed velocity ratio. To overcome these weaknesses, a method is proposed, based on Biot–Gassmann theories and assuming the formation velocity ratio (shear to compressional velocity) of an unconsolidated sediment is related to the velocity ratio of the matrix material of the formation and its porosity. Using the Biot coefficient calculated from either the weighted equation or from the effective medium theory, the proposed method accurately predicts the elastic properties of unconsolidated sediments with or without gas hydrate concentration. This method was applied to the observed velocities at the Mallik 2L‐39 well, Mackenzie Delta, Canada.

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[1] Relating pore-space gas hydrate saturation to sonic velocity data is important for remotely estimating gas hydrate concentration in sediment. In the present study, sonic velocities of gas hydrate-bearing sands are modeled using a three-phase Biot-type theory in which sand, gas hydrate, and pore fluid form three homogeneous, interwoven frameworks. This theory is developed using well log compressional and shear wave velocity data from the Mallik 5L-38 permafrost gas hydrate research well in Canada and applied to well log data from hydrate-bearing sands in the Alaskan permafrost, Gulf of Mexico, and northern Cascadia margin. Velocity-based gas hydrate saturation estimates are in good agreement with Nuclear Magneto Resonance and resistivity log estimates over the complete range of observed gas hydrate saturations.Components: 4395 words, 5 figures, 1 table.

a b s t r a c tData acquired at the BPXA-DOE-USGS Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, drilled in the Milne Point area of the Alaska North Slope in February, 2007, indicates two zones of high gas hydrate saturation within the Eocene Sagavanirktok Formation. Gas hydrate is observed in two separate sand reservoirs (the D and C units), in the stratigraphically highest portions of those sands, and is not detected in non-sand lithologies. In the younger D unit, gas hydrate appears to fill much of the available reservoir space at the top of the unit. The degree of vertical fill with the D unit is closely related to the unit reservoir quality. A thick, low-permeability clay-dominated unit serves as an upper seal, whereas a subtle transition to more clay-rich, and interbedded sand, silt, and clay units is associated with the base of gas hydrate occurrence. In the underlying C unit, the reservoir is similarly capped by a clay-dominated section, with gas hydrate filling the relatively lower-quality sands at the top of the unit leaving an underlying thick section of high-reservoir quality sands devoid of gas hydrate. Evaluation of well log, core, and seismic data indicate that the gas hydrate occurs within complex combination stratigraphic/ structural traps. Structural trapping is provided by a four-way fold closure augmented by a large western bounding fault. Lithologic variation is also a likely strong control on lateral extent of the reservoirs, particularly in the D unit accumulation, where gas hydrate appears to extend beyond the limits of the structural closure. Porous and permeable zones within the C unit sand are only partially charged due most likely to limited structural trapping in the reservoir lithofacies during the period of primary charging. The occurrence of the gas hydrate within the sands in the upper portions of both the C and D units and along the crest of the fold is consistent with an interpretation that these deposits are converted free gas accumulations formed prior to the imposition of gas hydrate stability conditions.Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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Downhole‐measured compressional- and shear‐wave velocities acquired in the Mallik 2L-38 gas hydrate research well, northwestern Canada, reveal that the dominant effect of gas hydrate on the elastic properties of gas hydrate‐bearing sediments is as a pore‐filling constituent. As opposed to high elastic velocities predicted from a cementation theory, whereby a small amount of gas hydrate in the pore space significantly increases the elastic velocities, the velocity increase from gas hydrate saturation in the sediment pore space is small. Both the effective medium theory and a weighted equation predict a slight increase of velocities from gas hydrate concentration, similar to the field‐observed velocities; however, the weighted equation more accurately describes the compressional- and shear‐wave velocities of gas hydrate‐bearing sediments. A decrease of Poisson’s ratio with an increase in the gas hydrate concentration is similar to a decrease of Poisson’s ratio with a decrease in the sediment porosity. Poisson’s ratios greater than 0.33 for gas hydrate‐bearing sediments imply the unconsolidated nature of gas hydrate‐bearing sediments at this well site. The seismic characteristics of gas hydrate‐bearing sediments at this site can be used to compare and evaluate other gas hydrate‐bearing sediments in the Arctic.

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