Stability Zone of Natural Gas Hydrates in a Permafrost-Bearing Region of the Beaufort—Mackenzie Basin: Study of a Feasible Energy Source1 (Geological Survey of Canada Contribution No.1999275)

Analysis of geological and geophysical data from 150 wells in the Beaufort—Mackenzie region(study area between 68°30′–70°00′N and 131°–39°W) led to reinterpretation of the depth ofmethane hydrate stability and construction of the first contour maps displaying thickness of hydratestability zones as well as hydrate stability zone thicknesses below permafrost. Calculations werebased on construction of temperature-depth profiles incorporating regional heat-flow values, temperatureat the base of ice-bearing permafrost, and models relating thermal conductivity with depth.Data analysis indicates the presence and extent of the methane hydrate stability zone is relatedmainly to the history of permafrost development and less so by the relatively small regionalvariations of temperature gradients. Analysis of well logs and other indicators in conjunction withknowledge of the hydrate stability zone allows reevaluation of the location of possible gas hydrateoccurrences. Log analysis indicates that in the onshore and shallow sea area of theBeaufort—Mackenzie Basin, methane hydrate occurs in 27 wells. Fifteen of these locations coincides withunderlying conventional hydrocarbon occurrences. Previous analyses place some of the hydrateoccurrences at greater depths than proposed for the methane hydrate stability zone described inthis study. Interpretation of geological cross sections reveals that hydratesare related mainly to sandy deltaic and delta-plain deposits in Iperk, Kugmallit, and Reindeer sequences althoughadditional hydrate picks have been inferred in other sequences, such as Richards. Overlyingpermafrost may act as seal for hydrate accumulations; however, the thickness of permafrost andits related hydrate stability zone fluctuated during geological time. It is interpreted that only inthe last tens of thousand of years (i.e., Sangamonian to Holocene), conditions for hydrates changedfrom nonstable to stable. During Early and Late Wisconsinan and Holocene time, conditions werefavorable for generation and trapping of hydrates. However, previously during Sangamonian time,less favorable conditions existed for hydrate stability. Gas release from hydrates may have occurredduring times when hydrate stability was nonexistent because of permafrost melting episodes. It isinterpreted that entrapment of gas in hydrate molecular structures is related to the existence ofconventional structural traps as well as less permeable sediments such as the Mackenzie BayFormation, which act