%0 Journal Article
%A León Buendía, Ricardo Fco.
%A Somoza Losada, Luis
%A Giménez Moreno, Carmen Julia
%A Dabrio González, Cristino José
%A Ercilla, Gemma
%A Praeg, Daniel
%A Díaz del Río, Víctor
%A Gómez Delgado, Montserrat
%T A predictive numerical model for potential mapping of the gas hydratestability zone in the Gulf of Cadiz
%D 2009
%@ 0264-8172
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/49412
%X This paper presents a computational model for mapping the regional 3D distribution in which seafloorgas hydrates would be stable, that is carried out in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment.The construction of the model is comprised of three primary steps, namely: (1) the construction ofsurfaces for the various variables based on available 3D data (seafloor temperature, geothermal gradientand depth-pressure); (2) the calculation of the gas function equilibrium functions for the varioushydrocarbon compositions reported from hydrate and sediment samples; and (3) the calculation of thethickness of the hydrate stability zone. The solution is based on a transcendental function, which issolved iteratively in a GIS environment.The model has been applied in the northernmost continental slope of the Gulf of Cadiz, an area where anabundant supply for hydrate formation, such as extensive hydrocarbon seeps, diapirs and fault structures,is combined with deep undercurrents and a complex seafloor morphology. In the Gulf of Cadiz, themodel depicts the distribution of the base of the gas hydrate stability zone for both biogenic and thermogenicgas compositions, and explains the geometry and distribution of geological structures derivedfrom gas venting in the Tasyo Field (Gulf of Cadiz) and the generation of BSR levels on the uppercontinental slope.
%~