Spatial coupling relationships of gas hydrate formation in the Tibetan Plateau

At present, gas hydrates are known to occur in continental high latitude permafrost regions and deep sea sediments. For middle latitude permafrost regions of the Tibetan Plateau, further research is required to ascertain its potential development of gas hydrates. This paper reviewed pertinent literature on gas hydrates in the Tibetan Plateau. Both geological and geographical data are synthesized to reveal the relationship between gas hydrate formation and petroleum geological evolution, Plateau uplift, formation of permafrost, and glacial processes. Previous studies indicate that numerous residual basins in the Plateau have been formed by original sedimentary basins accompanied by rapid uplift of the Plateau. Extensive marine Mesozoic hydrocarbon source rocks in these basins could provide rich sources of materials forming gas hydrates in permafrost. Primary hydrocarbon-generating period in the Plateau is from late Jurassic to early Cretaceous, while secondary hydrocarbon generation, regionally or locally, occurs mainly in the Paleogene. Before rapid uplift of the Plateau, oil-gas reservoirs were continuously destroyed and assembled to form new reservoirs due to structural and thermal dynamics, forcing hydrocarbon migration. Since 3.4 Ma B.P., the Plateau has undergone strong uplift and extensive glaciation, periglacier processes prevailed, hydrocarbon gas again migrated, and free gas beneath ice sheets within sedimentary materials interacted with water, generating gas hydrates which were finally preserved under a cap formed by frozen layers through rapid cooling in the Plateau. Taken as a whole, it can be safely concluded that there is great temporal and spatial coupling relationships between evolution of the Tibetan Plateau and generation of gas hydrates.