Application of AVO Analysis to Seismic Data for Detection of Gas below Methane Hydrate Stability Zone in Nankai Trough Area

Abstract. For the purpose of development of methane hydrate, occurring in the deep marine subsurface, as a resource, the most important issue is to understand the methane hydrate system (generation, migration and accumulation) as well as to delineate the methane hydrate reservoir properties. We have applied the Amplitude Versus Offset (AVO) analysis to the seismic data acquired in the Nankai Trough, offshore Japan, in order to confirm the occurrence of gas just below the methane hydrate-bearing zone, assuming that gas will show a so-called Class-3 AVO response. Knowledge of the amount and occurrence of gas in the sediment below methane hydrate-bearing zone is one of the keys to understand the methane hydrate system.
We have utilized the qualitative analysis of AVO methodology to delineate how gas is located below the BSR, which is thought to be the reflection event from the interface between the methane hydrate-bearing zone and the underlying gas-bearing zone. In the region of MITI Nankai Trough Well PSW-3, we observe two BSRs separated by 25 ms. After AVO modeling using well data, we applied AVO attribute analysis and attribute crossplot analysis to the seismic data. Finally we applied an offset-amplitude analysis to CMP gather data at specific locations to confirm the results of AVO attribute analysis. The AVO analysis shows that there is very little gas located in the underlying sediment below methane hydrate-bearing zone. This result supports the fact that we could not obtain any clear evidence of gas occurrence just below the methane hydrate-bearing zone in the Nankai Trough well drilling.     

滇西兰坪盆地五茂林剖面下白垩统景星组沉积相

实测了云南西部兰坪盆地东部下白垩统下部景星组的五茂林剖面,建立了曲流河、三角洲和湖泊3种沉积序列,其中三角洲序列在云南下白垩统中属首次建立。分析了粗碎屑岩的组成,将该剖面上出露的砾岩分成4类。早白垩世时兰坪盆地属丹那沙林-高黎贡弧的弧后盆地,景星组自下而上为曲流河沉积、三角洲沉积和湖泊沉积,且随湖侵发生,湖泊向西扩大。     

3-D internal architecture of methane hydrate-bearing turbidite channels in the eastern Nankai Trough, Japan

The reservoir architecture of methane hydrate (MH) bearing turbidite channels in the eastern Nankai Trough, offshore Japan is evaluated using a combination of 3-D seismic and well data. On the 3-D seismic section, the MH-bearing turbidite channels correspond to complex patterns of strong seismic reflectors, which show the 3-D internal architecture of the channel complex. A seismic-sequence stratigraphic analysis reveals that the channel complex can be roughly classified into three different stages of depositional sequence (upper, middle, and lower). Each depositional sequence results in a different depositional system that primarily controls the reservoir architecture of the turbidite channels. To construct a 3-D facies model, the stacking patterns of the turbidite channels are interpreted, and the reservoir heterogeneities of MH-bearing sediments are discussed. The identified channels at the upper sequence around the β1 well exhibit low-sinuosity channels consisting of various channel widths that range from tens to several hundreds of meters. Paleo-current flow directions of the turbidite channels are typically oriented along the north-northeast-to-south-southwest direction. High-amplitude patterns were identified above the channels along the north-to-south and north-northeast-to-south-southeast directions. These roughly coincide with the paleo-current flow of the turbidite channels. An interval velocity using high-density velocity analysis shows that velocity anomalies (>2000 m/s) are found on the northeastern side of the turbidite channels. The depositional stage of the northeastern side of the turbidite channels exhibits slightly older sediment stages than the depositional stages of the remaining channels. Hence, the velocity anomalies of the northeastern side of the channels are related to the different stages of sediment supply, and this may lead to the different reservoir architectures of the turbidite channels.     

Spatial distribution of sister species of vesicomyid bivalves Calyptogena okutanii and Calyptogena soyoae along an environmental gradient in chemosynthetic biological communities in Japan

Vesicomyid bivalves have a substantial biomass in deep-sea chemosynthetic biological communities in the Pacific. Using a novel multiplex-PCR (mPCR) method to identify the co-occurring vesicomyids in Sagami Bay, we analyzed the distribution of Calyptogena okutanii and Calyptogena soyoae along environmental gradients. All the known distributions of C. okutanii indicated the different preferences in salinity and temperature to those of C. soyoae, and in Sagami Bay, depth seemed to be an important environmental factor, too. Although the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in sediment was not examined, our results showed that the distributions of these two Calyptogena clams were affected by salinity and temperature.     

Molecular and isotopic characteristics of gas hydrate-bound hydrocarbons in southern and central Lake Baikal

We investigated the molecular composition (methane, ethane, and propane) and stable isotope composition (methane and ethane) of hydrate-bound gas in sediments of Lake Baikal. Hydrate-bearing sediment cores were retrieved from eight gas seep sites, located in the southern and central Baikal basins. Empirical classification of the methane stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δD) for all the seep sites indicated the dominant microbial origin of methane via methyl-type fermentation; however, a mixture of thermogenic and microbial gases resulted in relatively high methane δ¹³C signatures at two sites where ethane δ¹³C indicated a typical thermogenic origin. At one of the sites in the southern Baikal basin, we found gas hydrates of enclathrated microbial ethane in which ¹³C and deuterium were both highly depleted (mean δ¹³C and δD of –61.6‰ V-PDB and –285.4‰ V-SMOW, respectively). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of C₂ δ¹³C–δD classification for hydrate-bound gas in either freshwater or marine environments.     

ACTIVE system for monitoring volcanic activity: A case study of the Izu-Oshima Volcano,Central Japan

A system is proposed for the monitoring of changes in the underground structure of an active volcano over time by applying a transient electromagnetic method. The monitoring system is named ACTIVE, which stands for Array of Controlled Transient-electromagnetics for Imaging Volcano Edifice. The system consists of a transmitter dipole used to generate a controlled transient electromagnetic (EM) field and an array of receivers used to measure the vertical component of the transient magnetic field at various distances, with automatic operation of both units. In order to verify the performance of the proposed system, numerical and field experiments were carried out by application of the system to the Izu-Oshima volcano, where a remarkable change in the apparent DC resistivity over time had been detected in association with the eruption in 1986.     

郯庐断裂中段的早白垩世拉分盆地(英文)

石场－中楼盆地位于郯庐断裂带中段的沂河－沭河地区。郯庐断裂左旋切割了秦岭－大别－胶南造山带及前中生代地层,研究区内沂河－沭河断裂切割了年龄为１３６．２Ｍａ（４０Ａｒ／３９Ａｒ法）的胶南造山带北缘剪切带,并被时代为１１９Ｍａ（Ｋ－Ａｒ法）的青山群地层不整合覆盖,显示郯庐断裂在早白垩世曾发生了明显的走滑运动。石场－中楼盆地受沂河－沭河断裂的控制,整体为长６０ｋｍ、宽３０ｋｍ,长宽比近于２∶１的“菱型”构造盆地。盆地内早白垩世莱阳群的沉积厚度大于６２６３．７１ｍ,沉积速率大于０．４ｍｍ／ａ;沉积相特征反映盆地具有深而窄,沉积速度快、沉积相变剧烈的特点。盆地沉积中心的迁移方向与边界断裂的左旋走滑效应一致,“边走滑边沉积”的特征明显。根据构造背景、构造格架及沉积特征,确定石场－中楼盆地为郯庐断裂早白垩世左旋走滑过程中形成的拉分盆地     

东亚大陆边缘的构造格架及其中-新生代演化

燕山运动在亚洲大陆雏形东缘形成2条北东向的剪切带:郯庐断裂带和长乐-南澳-中央构造线断裂带,晚侏罗世—古近纪早期沿之发生地体/地块的拼贴。系统叙述了各移置地体/地块的主要岩石记录和拼贴时代,据起源分为3类:异地的(包括源自冈瓦纳的和源自盘古大洋的)、半异地的和准原地的;据拼贴位置分为2组:拼贴后基本位于原地的(日本海张开以前) 和发生过向北东错移的。新生代内东亚大陆边缘发生解体,可以台湾岛以北的菲律宾海盆断裂为界将东亚大陆边缘弧分为2段,北段仍处于剪切-拉张中,南段已进入剪切挤压-造山阶段。强调该地区中—新生代演化经历了2个里丁旋回, 形成早白垩世的北东向和新近纪的北东东向2期新生构造。