Emission Flux and Carbon Isotopic Composition of Methane from Rice Paddies in Guizhou Province

Methane emission flux from rice paddies in Guizhou province shows obvious three stage diurnal variations;It is relatively low from the morning to the noon,then successively increases in the afternoon and at night,and finally follows a gradual decrease.The δ13C values of trace methane emitted from rice paddies in Guizhou Province range from-64.5‰to -54.1‰ with an average of -60.7‰,very close to the reported values from America or Kenya.     

华北部分矿区煤储层压力研究

煤储层压力是煤层气开发的重要参数，它可以通过试井方法获取，华北部分矿区的试井资料表明，煤储层压力的变化较大，其主要影响因素有构造应力、地下水头高度及埋深、地下水矿化度等，当含气饱和度一定时，储层压力对煤层气井早期的气产率和水产率有较大影响。     

中国煤层气勘探开发技术

中国煤层气资源丰富，近１０年在煤层气勘探开发技术方面形成了包括煤层气钻井取心、试井、完井、强化压裂和排采系统配套的工程工艺技术。介绍了这套煤层气勘探开发工程工艺技术的基本内容、特点及应用情况。     

Fluid flow related features as an indicator of potential gas hydrate zone: western continental margin of India

Multichannel seismic reflection data from the continental margin of western India suggest the potential presence of fluid expulsion features, which may or may not be associated with gas hydrates. No typical bottom simulating reflector was observed on the reflection seismic section. As a result we look for other evidence in seismic sections in a small corridor of the western continental margin of India in order to establish the presence of gas hydrates. We study features including venting through the seafloor, pockmarks, sea floor collapse, faults acting as migration paths for fluid flow, transparent gas-charged sediment, reduction in amplitude strength, diapirism and mud-volcano. Presence of all these gas-escape features on a seismic section implies the probable presence of methane within the zone of hydrate stability field.     

动态式抽取、气相色谱法测定海水中的甲烷

本文报道了用动态（ｄｙｎａｍｉｃ）技术，经抽取、气相色谱法测定海水中溶存甲烷浓度的方法．详细论述了溶存甲烷经起泡、收集（吸附）、解吸和检测四步完成，并逐步讨论了起泡时间、起泡气体流速以及收集温度等有关因子对测定的影响。结果表明：该方法分析速度快、精密度好、灵敏度高，可广泛应用于海上现场测定海水中溶存的甲烷。     

Atypical heat-flow near gas hydrate irregularities and cold seeps in the Baikal Rift Zone

In this paper, we address the irregular behaviour and geometry of the gas hydrate stability zone (HSZ) inferred from reflection seismic data in relation to heat-flow measurements. The study area lies in the hanging wall of the Posolsky fault in the Southern Baikal Basin (SBB). Side-scan sonar imagery already revealed an undulating antithetic active fault structure and several isolated active vent structures. Remarkably, these fluid discharge structures occur only where the base of the hydrate stability zone (BHSZ), as inferred from seismic reflection profiles, is fluctuating and discontinuous, independent of lake floor morphology. The correlation between the interpreted BHSZ and heat-flow data across the Malenki seep is reasonable. On a seismic profile south of the fluid escape features, the BHSZ is expressed as an oscillatory, but continuous reflection, and shows poor correlation with heat-flow measurements. In nearly all cases, measured heat-flow exceeds inferred heat-flow. Additionally, the local inferred minima are anomalously low compared to the expected background values in the SBB. These observations suggest that the present-day hydrate accumulation and its (meta-)stability are more complicated than originally suspected. The limited area of these anomalies, their amplitudes and their occurrence in the immediate vicinity of faults and fluid escape features suggest that fluid convection cells disturb local gas hydrate stability conditions.     

In situ hydrocarbon concentrations from pressurized cores in surface sediments, Northern Gulf of Mexico

Two newly developed coring devices, the Multi-Autoclave-Corer and the Dynamic Autoclave Piston Corer were deployed in shallow gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the northern Gulf of Mexico during research cruise SO174 (Oct–Nov 2003). For the first time, they enable the retrieval of near-surface sediment cores under ambient pressure. This enables the determination of in situ methane concentrations and amounts of gas hydrate in sediment depths where bottom water temperature and pressure changes most strongly influence gas/hydrate relationships. At seep sites of GC185 (Bush Hill) and the newly discovered sites at GC415, we determined the volume of low-weight hydrocarbons (C₁ through C₅) from nine pressurized cores via controlled degassing. The resulting in situ methane concentrations vary by two orders of magnitudes between 0.031 and 0.985 mol kg^− 1 pore water below the zone of sulfate depletion. This includes dissolved, free, and hydrate-bound CH₄. Combined with results from conventional cores, this establishes a variability of methane concentrations in close proximity to seep sites of five orders of magnitude. In total four out of nine pressure cores had CH₄ concentrations above equilibrium with gas hydrates. Two of them contain gas hydrate volumes of 15% (GC185) and 18% (GC415) of pore space. The measurements prove that the highest methane concentrations are not necessarily related to the highest advection rates. Brine advection inhibits gas hydrate stability a few centimeters below the sediment surface at the depth of anaerobic oxidation of methane and thus inhibits the storage of enhanced methane volumes. Here, computerized tomography (CT) of the pressure cores detected small amounts of free gas. This finding has major implications for methane distribution, possible consumption, and escape into the bottom water in fluid flow systems related to halokinesis.     

南海北部浅表层沉积底栖有孔虫碳同位素及其对富甲烷环境的指示

对南海北部陆坡东沙海域、神狐海域及西沙海槽甲烷渗漏环境和无甲烷渗漏环境87个浅表层沉积物中的底栖有孔虫Uvigerinaspp.进行碳同位素分析研究,结果表明,东沙海域δ13C值为-0.52‰~-5.68‰,平均值为-1.41‰,出现明显的负偏移;神狐海域δ13C值介于-0.36‰~-1.10‰,平均值为-0.75‰,未见明显的δ13C值负偏移;西沙海槽δ13C值介于-0.01%~-0.89‰,平均值为-0.45‰;对Uvigerinaspp.碳同位素组成与沉积物有机碳(TOC)、甲烷(CH4)间的关系进行探讨,发现δ13C负偏移主要出现在甲烷渗漏环境,发生在末次盛冰期,与溶解无机碳负偏移以及沉积物全样的δ13C值负偏移层位相吻合,有可能作为富甲烷环境的替代指标。     

Methane,carbon monoxide and light non-methane hydrocarbon emissions from African savanna burnings during the FOS/DECAFE experiment

Atmospheric samples from savanna burnings were collected in the Ivory Coast during two campaigns in January 1989 and January 1991. About 30 nonmethane hydrocarbons from C₂ to C₆, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and methane were measured from the background and also at various distances from the burning. Concentrations in the fire plume reached ppmv levels for C₂-C₄ hydrocarbons, and 5300, 500 and 93 ppmv for CO₂, CO and CH₄ respectively. The excess in the mixing ratios of these gases above their background level is used to derive emission factors relative to CO and CO₂. For the samples collected immediately in the fire plume, a differentiation between high and low combustion efficiency conditions is made by considering the CO/CO₂ ratio. Ethene (C₂H₄), acetylene (C₂H₂), ethane (C₂H₆) and propene (C₃H₆) are the major NMHC produced in the flaming stage, whereas a different pattern with an increasing contribution of alkanes is observed in samples typical of post flaming processes. A strong correlation between methane and carbon monoxide suggests that these compounds are produced during the same stage of the combustion. In samples collected at a distance from the fire and integrated over a period of 30 minutes, the composition is very similar to that of flaming. NMHC/CO₂ is of the order of 0.7%, CH₄/CO₂ of the order of 0.4% and CO/CO₂ of the order of 6.3%. From this study, a global production by African savanna fires is derived: 65 Tg of CO-C, 4.2 Tg of CH₄-C and 6.7 Tg of NMHC-C. Whereas acetylene can be used as a conservative tracer of the fire plumes, only ethene, propene and butenes can be considered in terms of their direct photochemical impact.     

A large methane plume east of Bear Island (Barents Sea): implications for the marine methane cycle

A pockmark field extending over 35 km² at 74°54N, 27°3E, described by Solheim and Elverhøi (1993), was re-surveyed and found to be covered with more than 30 steep-sided craters between 300 and 700 m in diameter and up to 28 m deep. The craters are thought to have been formed by an explosive gas eruption. Anomalously high concentrations of methane in the shelf waters around the craters suggest that a strong methane source near this area is still active today. Methane enrichment more than 10 km away from the crater field indicates the large dimensions of a plume and the amount of gas released from sources below the seafloor of the Barents Sea shelf. From the characteristic vertical decrease of methane towards the sea surface, it is concluded that biota are extensively using this energy pool and reducing the methane concentration within the water column by about 98% between 300 m depth and the sea surface. Degassing to the atmosphere is minimal based on the shape of the methane concentration gradient. Nevertheless, the net flux of methane from this area of the Barents Sea is about 2.9 × 10⁴ g CH₄ km^–2 yr^–1 and thus in the upper range of the presently estimated global marine methane release. This flux is a minimum estimate and is likely to increase seasonally when rough weather leads to more effective vertical mixing during autumn and winter. The amount of methane consumed in the water column, however, is about 50 times greater and hence should significantly contribute to the marine carbon inventory.