Co-existence of gas hydrate, free gas, and brine within the regional gas hydrate stability zone at Hydrate Ridge (Oregon margin): evidence from prolonged degassing of a pressurized core

Standard scientific operations on Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 204 documented a horizon of massive gas hydrate and highly saline pore water ∼0–20 m below the southern summit of Hydrate Ridge offshore Oregon. The sediment zone lies near active seafloor gas venting, raising the possibility that free gas co-exists with gas hydrate in shallow subsurface layers where pore waters have become too saline to precipitate additional gas hydrate. Here we discuss a unique experiment that addresses this important concept. A 1-m-long pressurized core was retrieved from ∼14 m below sea floor at Site 1249 and slowly degassed at ∼0 °C in the laboratory over ∼178 h to determine in situ salinity and gas concentrations in the interval of massive gas hydrate. The core released ∼95 l of gas (predominantly methane), by far the greatest gas volume ever measured for a 1 m core at ambient shipboard pressure and temperature conditions. Geochemical mass-balance calculations and the pressure of initial gas release (4.2 MPa) both imply that pore waters had an in situ salinity approaching or exceeding 105 g kg−1, the approximate salinity required for a gas hydrate–free gas–brine system. Relatively high concentrations of propane and higher hydrocarbon gases at the start of core degassing also suggest the presence of in situ free gas. Gas hydrate, free gas and brine likely co-exist in shallow sediment of Hydrate Ridge. Near-seafloor brines, produced when rapid gas hydrate crystallization extracts large quantities of water, impact the distribution and cycling of gas and gas hydrate in this region and perhaps elsewhere.