Dickens, Gerald R., and Kennedy, B. Mack (2000) Noble gases in methane hydrate from the Blake Ridge. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program. Scientific Results, 164. pp. 165-170.

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Abstract

Fractionation of the noble gases should occur during formation of a Structure I gas hydrate from water and CH₄ such that CH4 hydrate is greatly enriched in Xenon. Noble gas concentrations and fractionation factors (F[⁴He], F[²²Ne], F[⁸⁶Kr], and F[¹³²Xe] as well as R/R[a]) were determined for eight gas hydrate specimens collected on Leg 164 to evaluate this theoretical possibility and to assess whether sufficient quantities of Xe are hosted in oceanic CH₄ hydrate to account for Xe "missing" from the atmosphere. The simplest explanation for our results is that samples contain mixtures of air and two end-member gases. One of the end-member gases is depleted in Ne, but significantly enriched in Kr and Xe, as anticipated if the source of this gas involves fractionation during Structure I gas hydrate formation. However, although oceanic CH₄ hydrate may be greatly enriched in Xe, simple mass balance calculations indicate that oceanic CH₄ hydrate probably represents only a minor reservoir of terrestrial Xe. Noble gas analyses may play an important role in understanding the dynamics of gas hydrate reservoirs, but significantly more work is needed than presented here.

Item ID:	13005
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1096-7451
Date Deposited:	04 Feb 2013 05:04
FoR Codes:	04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0402 Geochemistry > 040204 Organic Geochemistry @ 100%
SEO Codes:	97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970104 Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences @ 100%
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