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FROZEN HEAT
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Pearl River
Mouth Basin
HAINAN
Guangzhou
CHINA
Baiyun sag
HONG KONG
MACAU
Given the large resource volumes in settings such as the Blake
Ridge and the Shenhu area, pore-filling, fine-grained systems
are being rigorously evaluated for their energy resource poten-
tial. At present, the consensus is that production of such depos-
its is not feasible with existing technologies (Moridis and Sloan
2007; Li
et al.
2010). The primary reasons are low hydrate sat-
uration, low sediment mechanical strength, lack of confining
low-permeability boundaries, and access to abundant free water,
which makes depressurization difficult to achieve and limits po-
tential production rates to extremely low values.
Pearl River
Mouth Basin
HAINAN
Guangzhou
CHINA
Baiyun sag
HONG KONG
MACAU
Figure 2.13:
Gas hydrates in the South China Sea. The photograph shows a mud-rich sediment sample acquired from the Shenhu region,
South China Sea, in 2007. The sediment shows the frothy texture that results from the dissociation of gas hydrates and the release of gas
during sampling and recovery (courtesy, GMGS-01 Science Party).