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Interplay Between Gas Hydrates and Submarine Slope Failure

  • Chapter
Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences

Part of the book series: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ((NTHR,volume 28))

Abstract

Interest in methane gas production from hydrate deposits has increased dramatically in the last decade. Gas hydrates are solid crystalline compounds that encage gas molecules inside a water molecule lattice. Gas hydrates are linked to large submarine slides, in part because hydrate dissociation results in loss of solid material, production of free gas, and increased fluid pressures; all which have the effect of reducing sediment strength. Laboratory experiments, small scale physical modeling, and theoretical slope stability analyses indicate that dissociation of even a small amount of hydrate can cause significant loss of sediment strength. Hydrate dissociation could be critical in inciting slope failures for low permeability sediments in shallower water depths. This paper presents recent results and advances on the intersection of gas hydrates and submarine slope stability, exploring the role of gas hydrates in triggering and/or propagating submarine mass movements.

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Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for funding this project. I also thank the reviewers Drs. N. Sultan and W. Waite for their critique and valuable input into this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, ENF 262, 2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada

    J. L. H. Grozic

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  1. J. L. H. Grozic
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources Canada, Dartmouth, NS, Canada

    David C. Mosher

  2. Shell International, Exploration and Production Inc., Houston, TX, USA

    R. Craig Shipp

  3. University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA

    Lorena Moscardelli

  4. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

    Jason D. Chaytor

  5. University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI, USA

    Christopher D. P. Baxter

  6. United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA

    Homa J. Lee

  7. Institute of Marine Sciences, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain

    Roger Urgeles (Facultat de Geologia) (Facultat de Geologia)

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Grozic, J.L.H. (2010). Interplay Between Gas Hydrates and Submarine Slope Failure. In: Mosher, D.C., et al. Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 28. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3071-9_2

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