Geophysical Indicators of Gas Hydrate in the Northern Continental Margin, South China Sea

Gas hydrate drilling results show that gas hydrate has a close relationship with strong bottom-simulating reflectors (BSRs) identified from seismic data in the Baiyun sag, South China Sea. The BSRs observed on seismic profiles at the crests of submarine canyons indicate the likely existence of gas hydrate. We calculate the acoustic impedance using constrained sparse spike inversion (CSSI), the interval velocity, and the seismic reflection characteristics such as reflection strength, instantaneous frequency, blanking, and enhanced reflection to demonstrate the presence of gas hydrate. Higher acoustic impedance and P-wave velocity were identified above the BSR. A remarkable low impedance, low frequency, and acoustic blanking indicated the presence of gas below gas hydrate stability zone. The occurrence of gas hydrate at the crests of canyons suggests that the abundance of gas hydrate in Baiyun sag may be due to the migrating submarine canyons providing the structural reliefs and the topographic ridges.