Distribution of the gas hydrate stability zone in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Abstract

The theoretical gas hydrates stability zone (GHSZ) in the Ross Sea area was evaluated by mean of a steady state simple approach by using bathymetric data, sea bottom temperature, a variable geothermal gradient and assuming that the natural gas is methane. The results from our study suggest that bathymetry and distribution of the GHSZ are correlated; in fact, the GHSZ reaches a maximum (ca. 400 m) in the basins, where the water temperature is the lowest, and decreases in the banks with thickness ranging between 7 and