163. Mallik Gas Hydrate (2002)

Previous
Mallik Gas Hydrate

Natural gas hydrate, a solid form of natural gas and water, is thought to be the single most abundant hydrocarbon resource on Earth. This unique substance occurs in deep permafrost and in deep marine environments. Globally, gas hydrate deposits represent a significant potential source of greenhouse gases, a potential geohazard, and may be a source of unconventional gas.

Between 1998 and 2008, the Geological Survey of Canada led four collaborative field research programs to study permafrost gas hydrate at the Mallik site in the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories. In 2002, scientists from Canada, Japan, Germany, the USA, and India collected the first permafrost gas hydrate core samples, documented stability conditions, and assessed their stability to climate change. In 2008, with Japan and the Northwest Territories as the main partners, a full-scale gas production test was carried out.

These international collaborations have resulted in more than 100 Survey publications, as well as journal publications. The Mallik site research is recognized as a milestone in gas hydrate science and has formed the basis for offshore production tests in Japan and longer-term production testing in Alaska.

Category: Science Advances

Decade: 2000s

Reference

Dallimore, S.R., Collett, T.S., Taylor, A.E., Uchida, T., Weber, M., Chandra, A., Mroz, T.H., Caddel, E.M., and Inoue, T. (ed.), 2005. Scientific Results from JAPEX/JNOC/GSC et al. Mallik 5L-38 Gas Hydrate Production Research Well, Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada; Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 585, 140 p. doi:10.4095/220702

GSC 175 - CGC 175

Next