Gas hydrates or clathrates are crystalline compounds of water and gas. Natural clathrates trapping mostly methane, are widespreads in the sediments of the continental margins between water depths of 500 3500 m. Clathrates, are rarely sampled in cores but can be detected indirectly by geochemical tracers and by the response of downhole well logs. The extent of hydrates can be mapped using characteristic reflectors and amplitude anomalies on seismic lines. Estimated on this basis, the quantity of methane in marine clathrates is enormous; equivalent in energy value to about twice conventional hydrocarbon resources worldwide. However, exploitation of marine hydrates as a fuel is not as yet technically or economically viable. Major submarine landslides may be triggered by hydrate dissociation due to sea level fall or sea bottom temperature increase. The released gas may enter the atmosphere, and contribute to greenhouse warming. The Brazilian continental margin shows geophysical indicators of gas hydrates in several localities, and geochemical conditions are favourable in others. This gives the possibility of unconventional hydrocarbon plays, but may also pose a geotechnical risk to drilling and production activity.
Gas hydrates; Continental margin; Organic geochemistry; Marine mineral resources
