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USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program

Field Activity Details for field activity 1998-061-FA

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Other ID: MALLIK 2L-38

Status: Completed

Organization(s): USGS, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Funding Program(s):

Principal Investigator(s): William Winters

Affiliate Investigator(s): S.R. Dallimore - Canada Geological Survey; T. Uchida - JAPEX

Information Specialist(s):

Data Type(s): Sampling: Geology

Scientific Purpose/Goals: Two fundamental objectives were established for the Mallik 2L-38 research-well program. The Japan National Oil Corporation (JNOC), the Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (JAPEX) and other participating organizations from Japan sought to undertake a variety of verification studies in preparation for exploration drilling (in 1999) of gas hydrate deposits in the Nankai Trough, offshore Japan's eastern coast. These included the evaluation of technologies related to gas hydrate drilling, geophysics, casing, and production of an onshore site with known gas hydrate occurrences. In additon, a long-standing interest in gas hydrate occurrences in permafrost settings led the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to propose a comprehensive science program to quantify the geological, geophysical, geochemical, and engineering properites of an arctic gas hydrate occurrence. Following a long review process, a site for the gas hydrate research well was selected near Imperial Oil Mallik L-38, an existing industry exploration well drilled in 1972.

Vehicle(s):

Start Port/Location: Mallik site, Northwest Territories, Canada

End Port/Location: Mallik site, Northwest Territories, Canada

Start Date: 1998-02-01

End Date: 1998-03-31

Equipment Used: Hydraulic drill, Gravity corer

Information to be Derived: Morphology;

Summary of Activity and Data Gathered: Gas hydrate well: 1150 m; Core Drill: 10; Conventional: 2; PTCS: 2.

Staff: William Winters

Affiliate Staff:
T.S. Collett - Denver

Notes:
Project = MALLIK, MALLIK

Location:

Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada, North America;

Boundaries
North: 69.47 South: 69.44 West: -134.7 East: -134.65

Platform(s):


Mallik 2002

Publications

Jenner, K.A., Dallimore, S.R., Nixon, F.M., Winters, W.J., and Uchida, T., 1998, Sedimentology of methane hydrate host strata from JAPEX/JNOC/GSC Mallik 2L-38: , Japan National Oil Corporation, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Methane Hydrates.

Waite, W.F., Santamarina, J.C., Cortes, D.D., Dugan, B., Espinoza, D.N., Germaine, J., Jang, J., Jung, J.W., Kneafsey, T.J., Shin, H., Soga, K., Winters, W.J., and Yun, T-S., 2009, Physical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments: Reviews of Geophysics, v. 47 no. RG4003, 38 p., doi: 10.1029/2008RG000279.

Wilcox-Cline, R., and Winters, W.J, 2011, The Influence of Grain Size on the Formation of Natural Gas Hydrate [abs.]: , 2011 Fall Meeing of the American Physical Society-American Assoc. for Physics Teachers-Society of Physics Students. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, November 18-19, 2011.

Winters, W.J., Dallimore, S.R., Collett, T.S., Katsube, T.J., Jenner, K.A., Cranston, R.E., Wright, J.F., Nixon, F.M., and Uchida, T., 1999, Physical properties of sediments from the JAPEX/JNOC/GSC Mallik 2L-38 gas hydrate research well; in Dallimore, S.R., Uchida, T., and Collett, T.S., eds., Scientific Results from JAPEX/JNOC/GSC Mallik 2L-38 Gas Hydrate Research Well, Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada: Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 544, , URL: http://geoscan.ess.nrcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/starfinder/0?path=geoscan.fl&id=fastlink&pass=&format=FLSHORTNOGE&search=R=210752.

Winters, W.J., Pecher, I.A., Booth, J.S., Mason, D.H., Relle, M.K., and Dillon, W.P., 1999, Properties of samples containing natural gas hydrate from the JAPEX/JNOC/GSC Mallik 2L-38 gas hydrate research well, determined using Gas Hydrate And Sediment Test Laboratory Instrument (GHASTLI), in Dallimore, S.R., Uchida, T., and Collett, T.S., eds., Scientific Results from JAPEX/JNOC/GSC Mallik 2L-38 gas hydrate research well, Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories: Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 544, , URL: http://geoscan.ess.nrcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/starfinder/0?path=geoscan.fl&id=fastlink&pass=&format=FLSHORTNOGE&search=R=210763.

Winters, W.J., Waite, W.F., Mason, D.H., Gilbert, L.Y., and Pecher, I.A., 2007, Methane gas hydrate effect on sediment acoustic and strength properties: Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, v. 56 no. 1-3, doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2006.02.003.

Wright, J.F., Dallimore, S.R., Nixon, F.M., Uchida, T., Winters, W.J., and Collett, T.S., 1998, Phase equilibrium thresholds for methane hydrate stability in Mallik sands: , Japan National Oil Corporation, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Methane Hydrates.

Portals/Viewers

Data Acquired

Survey EquipmentSurvey InfoData Type(s)Data Collected
Hydraulic drill --- Geology
Gravity corer --- Geology

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