Gas Hydrates Accumulations on the South Shetland Continental Margin: New Detection Possibilities

Abstract

The results of investigations in 2006–2010 for hydrocarbon and gas hydrates on the Antarctic Peninsula continental margin are given. In 2004 and 2006, the marine geoelectric researches by methods of forming a short-pulsed electromagnetic field (FSPEF) and vertical electric-resonance sounding (VERS) had been conducted in this region. The “deposit” type anomaly was mapped by FSPEF survey, and anomalous polarized layers of “hydrocarbon deposit” type were chosen by VERS sounding within this anomaly on Antarctic margin in the region of UAS “Academician Vernadsky.” Anomalous zones of “gas hydrate deposit” type were detected on the South Shetland margin due to the special technology of satellite data processing and interpretation using. These results confirm the high gas hydrates potential of the West Antarctica region. Some practical results of the experimental approbation of these original technologies for the “direct” prospecting and exploration of hydrocarbon (HC) and gas hydrates accumulations in different oil-and-gas bearing basins of Russia and Gulf of Mexico are proposed. The integration of satellite data processing and materials of FSPEF-VERS methods enable improving their efficiency for different geological and geophysical problems solving.

The Falkland Basins - New Structural Model and Hydrocarbon Bearing Prospects (by Remote Sensing and Geoelectric Data)

“…Geoelectric measurements during seasonal Antarctic expeditions showed the principal possibility of this method using for the crustal section construction and deep inhomogeneities mapping to a depth of 24-32 km [1,10,16].…”

“…Express-technology of HC accumulations "direct" prospecting with geoelectric methods (FSPEF-VERS) was developed by experiments on many known oil and gas fields within the largest gas-and-condensate fields [11,12,16,18].…”

Geodynamics

“…В последние годы эти методы используются с целью изучения глубинных неоднородностей и построения схематических разрезов структур земной коры Западной Антарктики на глубину до 24-32 км ( [Левашов и др., 2006;Удинцев и др., 2010;Bakhmutov et al, 2010;Levashov et al, 2007;Solovyov et al, 2009Solovyov et al, , 2011] и др. ).…”

“…Он основан на выделении и обработке резонансных частот электромагнитного поля, характерных для каждого реперного типа углеводорода или интегральных спектров для соединений углеводородов [Левашов и др., 2010, 2011, 2012]. Эта технология частотно-резонансной обработки и дешифрирования данных ДЗЗ была использована для оперативной оценки перспектив нефтегазоносности участка материковой окраины Антарк-тического полуострова в районе расположения УАС "Академик Вернадский" [Левашов и др., 2012;Bakhmutov et al, 2010;Solovyov et al, 2011].…”

Ecologia de foraminíferos bentônicos das regiões da Passagem do Drake e Ilha de Marambio, Península Antártica

“…O volume total desses reservatórios ainda é desconhecido, mas estimativas apontam o equivalente a 3.000 vezes a quantidade de carbono presente na atmosfera (KVENVOLDEN, 1995). Particularmente na região próxima às ilhas Shetland do Sul, vários depósitos de hidrato de gás foram mapeados por pesquisadores (SOLOVYOV et al, 2011;LORETO et al, 2011).…”