The characteristics of heat flow in the Shenhu gas hydrate drilling area, northern South China Sea

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• 作者：Xing Xu ; Zhifeng Wan ; Xianqing Wang ; Yuefeng Sun ; Bin Xia
• 关键词：Heat flow ; Canyon ; Fault zone ; Sedimentary environment ; Gas hydrate ; Northern South China Sea
• 刊名：Marine Geophysical Research
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：December 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：37
• 期：4
• 页码：325-335
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Oceanography; Geophysics/Geodesy; Earth Sciences, general; Offshore Engineering;
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1573-0581
• 卷排序：37

文摘

Marine heat flow is of great significance for the formation and occurrence of seabed oil, gas and gas hydrate resources. Geothermal gradient is an important parameter in determining the thickness of the hydrate stability zone. The northern slope of the South China Sea is rich in gas hydrate resources. Several borehole drilling attempts were successful in finding hydrates in the Shenhu area, while others were not. The failures demand further study on the distribution regularities of heat flow and its controlling effects on hydrate occurrence. In this study, forty-eight heat flow measurements are analyzed in the Shenhu gas hydrate drilling area, located in the northern South China Sea, together with their relationship to topography, sedimentary environment and tectonic setting. Canyons are well developed in the study area, caused mainly by the development of faults, faster sediment supply and slumping of the Pearl River Estuary since the late Miocene in the northern South China Sea. The heat flow values in grooves, occurring always in fault zones, are higher than those of ridges. Additionally, the heat flow values gradually increase from the inner fan, to the middle fan, to the external fan subfacies. The locations with low heat flow such as ridges, locations away from faults and the middle fan subfacies, are more conducive to gas hydrate occurrence.