Multicomponent
and Multifrequency Seismic for Assessment of Fluid-Gas Expulsion Geology
and Gas Hydrate Deposits: Gulf of Mexico
Completed Study funded by the Research Partnership to
Secure Energy for America
(RPSEA). The primary contractor is Louisiana State University (LSU). The
Exploration Geophysics Laboratory is a subcontractor to LSU.
A
wide range of fluid-gas expulsion processes is observed in seafloor strata
across the northern Gulf of Mexico. These geological features can be segregated
into rapid-flux processes (mud volcanoes, flows, and vents), moderate-flux
processes (gas-hydrate mounds and chemosynthetic communities), and slow-flux
processes (carbonate mounds, hardgrounds, and mineral-prone features). The
objective of this study is to analyze shallow seafloor strata across selected
deep-water expulsion sites with a range of seismic imaging options: 4-component
ocean-bottom-cable (4-C OBC) data, conventional 3-D P-wave data, and deep-towed
P-wave sources/receivers that produce 2 kHz and 10 kHz profiles of shallow
strata in deep water. Emphasis will be placed on improving the seismic imaging
of moderate-flux expulsion sites where gas hydrates exist. Improved geologic
understanding of these sites is expected to be provided by high-frequency
P-wave profiles that will detail structure and stratigraphy immediately
below the seafloor and by converted-shear images extracted from 4-C OBC
data, which will image inside P-wave wipeout zones.
(Click on graphic to enlarge.)
For
more information, please contact Bob Hardage, principal investigator.
Telephone 512-471-0300; e-mail bob.hardage@beg.utexas.edu.
