Elastic velocity models for gas-hydrate-bearing sediments—a comparison

The presence of gas hydrate in oceanic sediments is mostly identified by bottom-simulating reflectors (BSRs), reflection events with reversed polarity following the trend of the seafloor. Attempts to quantify the amount of gas hydrate present in oceanic sediments have been based mainly on the presence or absence of a BSR and its relative amplitude. Recent studies have shown that a BSR is not a necessary criterion for the presence of gas hydrates, but rather its presence depends on the type of sediments and the in situ conditions. The influence of hydrate on the physical properties of sediments overlying the BSR is determined by the elastic properties of their constituents and on sediment microstructure. In this context several approaches have been developed to predict the physical properties of sediments, and thereby quantify the amount of gas/gas hydrate present from observed deviations of these properties from those predicted for sediments without gas hydrate. We tested four models: the empirical weighted equation (WE); the three-phase effective-medium theory (TPEM); the three-phase Biot theory (TPB) and the differential effective-medium theory (DEM). We compared these models for a range of variables (porosity and clay content) using standard values for physical parameters. The comparison shows that all the models predict sediment properties comparable to field values except for the WE model at lower porosities and the TPB model at higher porosities. The models differ in the variation of velocity with porosity and clay content. The variation of velocity with hydrate saturation is also different, although the range is similar. We have used these models to predict velocities for field data sets from sediment sections with and without gas hydrates. The first is from the Mallik 2L–38 well, Mackenzie Delta, Canada, and the second is from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 164 on Blake Ridge. Both data sets have Vp and Vs information along with the composition and porosity of the matrix. Models are considered successful if predictions from both Vp and Vs match hydrate saturations inferred from other data. Three of the models predict consistent hydrate saturations of 60–80 per cent from both Vp and Vs from log and vertical seismic profiling data for the Mallik 2L-38 well data set, but the TPEM model predicts 20 per cent higher saturations, as does the DEM model with a clay-water starting medium. For the clay-rich sediments of Blake Ridge, the DEM, TPEM and WE models predict 10–20 per cent hydrate saturation from Vp data, comparable to that inferred from resistivity data. The hydrate saturation predicted by the TPB model from Vp is higher. Using Vs data, the DEM and TPEM models predict very low or zero hydrate saturation while the TPB and WE models predict hydrate saturation very much higher than those predicted from Vp data. Low hydrate saturations are observed to have little effect on Vs. The hydrate phase appears to be connected within the sediment microstructure even at low saturations.