Estimation of potential distribution of gas hydrate in the northern South China Sea

• Published in: Chinese journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 693 - 699
• Main Author: 王春娟 杜德文 朱志伟 刘永刚 闫仕娟 杨刚
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg SP Science Press 01.05.2010; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: basins; China; Crystallography; Distribution; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Economic benefits; Energy resources; Energy sources; Exploration; gas hydrate; Gas hydrates; Gases; Geology; Gulf of Mexico; Hydrates; Long-term planning; Mineral resources; Mineralogy; Ocean floor; Oceanography; Petroleum geology; planning; Prediction models; Reliability analysis; Sea; South China Sea; Taiwan; 分布估计; 南海北部; 天然气水合物; South China Sea; Gulf of Mexico; China; Taiwan; ISEW, China, People's Rep., Hainan; ASW, Mexico Gulf; ISEW, South China Sea; ISEW, Taiwan; China, People's Rep; gas hydrate; Gulf of Mexico; northern South China Sea; resource assessment
• ISSN: 0254-4059; 2096-5508; 1993-5005; 2523-3521
• DOI: 10.1007/s00343-010-0097-9

Gas hydrate research has significant importance for securing world energy resources, and has the potential to produce considerable economic benefits. Previous studies have shown that the South China Sea is an area that harbors gas hydrates. However, there is a lack of systematic investigations and understanding on the distribution of gas hydrate throughout the region. In this paper, we applied mineral resource quantitative assessment techniques to forecast and estimate the potential distribution of gas hydrate resources in the northern South China Sea. However, current hydrate samples from the South China Sea are too few to produce models of occurrences. Thus, according to similarity and contrast principles of mineral outputs, we can use a similar hydrate-mining environment with sufficient gas hydrate data as a testing ground for modeling northern South China Sea gas hydrate conditions. We selected the Gulf of Mexico, which has extensively studied gas hydrates, to develop predictive models of gas hydrate distributions, and to test errors in the model. Then, we compared the existing northern South China Sea hydrate-mining data with the Gulf of Mexico characteristics, and collated the relevant data into the model, Subsequently, we applied the model to the northern South China Sea to obtain the potential gas hydrate distribution of the area, and to identify significant exploration targets. Finally, we evaluated the reliability of the predicted results. The south seabed area of Taiwan Bank is recommended as a priority exploration target. The Zhujiang Mouth, Southeast Hainan, and Southwest Taiwan Basins, including the South Bijia Basin, also are recommended as exploration target areas. In addition, the method in this paper can provide a useful predictive approach for gas hydrate resource assessment, which gives a scientific basis for construction and implementation of long-term planning for gas hydrate exploration and general exploitation of the seabed of China.