Abstract
Natural gas hydrate is a potential clean energy source and is related to submarine geohazard, climate change, and global carbon cycle. Multidisciplinary investigations have revealed the occurrence of hydrate in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea. However, the spatial distribution, controlling factors, and favorable areas are not well defined. Here we use the available high-resolution seismic lines, well logging, and heat flow data to explore the issues by calculating the thickness of gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) and estimating the inventory. Results show that the GHSZ thickness ranges between mostly ∼200 and 400 m at water depths >500 m. The gas hydrate inventory is ∼6.5×109-t carbon over an area of ∼6×104 km2. Three areas including the lower uplift to the south of the Lingshui sub-basin, the Songnan and Baodao sub-basins, and the Changchang sub-basin have a thick GHSZ of ∼250–310 m, 250–330 m, and 350–400 m, respectively, where water depths are ∼1 000–1 600 m, 1 000–2 000 m, and 2 400–3 000 m, respectively. In these deep waters, bottom water temperatures vary slightly from ∼4 to 2 °C. However, heat flow increases significantly with water depth and reaches the highest value of ∼80–100 mW/m2 in the deepest water area of Changchang sub-basin. High heat flow tends to reduce GHSZ thickness, but the thickest GHSZ still occurs in the Changchang sub-basin, highlighting the role of water depth in controlling GHSZ. The lower uplift to the south of the Lingshui sub-basin has high deposition rate (∼270–830 m/Ma in 1.8–0 Ma); the thick Cenozoic sediment, rich biogenic and thermogenic gas supplies, and excellent transport systems (faults, diapirs, and gas chimneys) enables it a promising area of hydrate accumulation, from which hydrate-related bottom simulating reflectors, gas chimneys, and active cold seeps were widely revealed.
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Data Availability Statement
All data generated and/or analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgment
Thank two anonymous reviewers for valuable and constructive comments with which this manuscript is improved. The seismic and well data are provided by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
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Supported by the K. C. Wong Education Foundation (No. GJTD-2018-13), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (Nos. GML2019ZD0104, GML2019ZD0205), the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Program (No. 201904010285), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42076077), the Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. ISEE2018PY02), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2021YFC3100604), the Hainan Key Laboratory of Marine Geological Resources and Environment (No. HNHYDZZYHJKF003), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2021A1515011298), and the Guangdong Special Support Talent Team Program (No. 2019BT02H594)
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Zhao, Z., Qiu, N., Sun, Z. et al. Spatial distribution and inventory of natural gas hydrate in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea. J. Ocean. Limnol. 41, 729–739 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-022-2106-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-022-2106-1