Seismic 11
Electrical Resistivities of Natural Gas Hydrates s11.7
and Permafrost
Chris Pearson, Los AlamosScientijicLab
The resistivitiesof laboratory permafrost samples are shown to
follow a variationof Archie’s equation,
where pt and pr are the thawed and frozen resistivities of the
sample, T is temperature,SWis the unfrozenwater content, and n
and C are empirical constants.Using multiple linear regression
techniques,we calculateC and n for a variety of lithologic types.
Assuming that natural permafrost and methane hydrate-bearing
sediments follow the same empirical relationship as laboratory
permafrostsamples,we proposea method for calculatingthe re-
resistivities
of hydrates and permafrost with depth. We conclude
that hydrate deposits may be distinguished from permafrost
by their relatively higher resistivities, due to a lower unfrozen
water content.
Both permafrost and natural gas hydrate deposits commonly
occur in the arctic regions of North America and Asia. These
substancesnot only representa problem for constructionworkers,
engineers,and geophysicistsworking in the north, but in the case
of naturalgashydrates,their presencemay alsorepresenta signifi-
cant future energy resource.
Electrical methodsare commonly usedto detectpermafrostand
may also be used to locate hydrate deposits. In this paper we
conclude that the electricalresistivityof permafrostis a functionof
the volumefractionand concentrationof the unfrozenbrine phase.
Using publishedmeasurementsof resistivitiesof frozen groundas
a function of temperature,we estimatethe empirical constantsin
Archie’s equation for several different rock types. Finally, we
presenta methodto calculatethe resistivityof hydratedepositsand
permafrostas a function of depth. From these calculationswe
conclude that hydrate deposits can often be distinguishedfrom
permafrostbecausethey have much higher resistivitiesdue to a
lower brine content.
Resistivities
There are no reported laboratoryresistivity measurementson
hydrate-containingsediments;however, there is an extensivebody
of literatureon the electricalpropertiesof partly frozen sediments.
Ice is an electrical insulator. Becauseice and hydrateshave a
similarcrystalstructure,hydratesprobablyare electricalinsulators
also. Thus, the resistivitiesof permafrostand hydratedepositsare
largely controlledby unfrozenbrine inclusions.
Archie’s law, (p =ap,$-mSw-n), is an empirical relationship
between water content and the resistivity of water-saturatedsedi-
ments. Here p is the resistivity of the sediments, pr is the pore
water resistivity, SW is the fraction of the porosity occupiedby
liquid water, and a, m, and n are empirically derived parameters.
This equation also applies to rocks where the pore spacesare
partially filled with ice of hydrates. However, as the amount of
liquid water decreases,SW and pu,are both reduced,Sn because
someof the availablepore spaceis now tilled with a solid noncon-
ductor, and pr because the dissolved salts are concentrated in the
remainingunfrozenbrine. If the brine is not very near saturation.
the effect of hydrate or ice formation of pK is relatively easy to
quantify becausean increasein salt concentrationcausesa linear
decrease in pr. Because hydrates of ice exclude all of the dis-
solved salts as they form, the salt concentrationof the brine in-
clusions is inversely proportional to the volume fraction of liquid
149
water, assumingthat the sedimentswere initially water-saturated.
In addition, the resistivityof aqueoussolutionsincreasesexponen-
tially with decreasingtemperatures.Including both temperature
and concentrationeffects, the resistivityof a partially frozen brine
at temperatureT is thus proportionalto (C)%-v where C is a
constant.Substitutingthis relationshipinto Archie’s equationand
dividing by the resistivity at O”C, we find that the ratio of frozen
(pr) and thawed (pJ resistivitiesis
p,/p, = c-Tsw’-“. (1)
Estimating the empirical constantsin Archie’s equation
To use this relationship,empirical constantsC and n must be
known. Fortunately,Panditand King (1979), Hoyer et al (1975),
Desai and Moore (1967), and Dumas (1962) examined the rela-
tionshipbetweenformationtemperatures,pore water resistivities,
and formation resistivities.In all four studies,rock or soil sam-
ples, ranging in compositionfrom sandstonesand limestonesto
line sandsand silts, were saturatedwith dilute brineswith known
composition. Resistivitiesof these sampleswere then measured
repeatedlyas the temperaturewas varied from above the freezing
point to -21.1 “C, the euteticof the water NaCl system. Because
the sampleswere saturatedwith saline water, the pore water did
not completelyfreeze when the temperaturewas decreasedbelow
the freezing point. As ice formed in the pores, the dissolvedsalts
concentratein the remainingliquid or brine phase. However, ice
can only form until the brine concentrationreachesa critical value
wherethe freezing point of the brine equalsthe temperature.Using
the well known freezing point depressioncurves for the water
NaCl system, we estimatedthe concentrationof the brine phase
and the amountof unfrozenwater presentin the sample. We then
usedthis datato test equation(1) and estimatethe valueof n and
C, the empirical constants.
Clearly this techniqueassumesthat the salinity measuredout-
side the rock is equal to the in-situ salinity. Unfortunately, in-
teractions between pore water and grain surfaces can cause
exchangeableionscontainedin the rock matrix to go into solution,
forming an ion halo aroundeach grain boundary.However, these
extra ionshave an importanteffect on water resistivitiesonly if the
dissolvedion concentrationis initially quite low. In addition, sur-
face chemistryeffects can causepore water to freeze at tempera-
tures below those calculatedfrom the freezing point depression
curves. However, Pattersonand Smith (1981) show that, for soil
samplescontainingsilt and sand,surfacechemistryeffectsdepress
the freezing point by lessthan one degree, althoughthe effect can
be considerablygreaterif significantamountsof clay are present.
We estimatedempirical parametersC and n usingmultivariate
linear regressiontechniques.In order to estimaten and C using
linear regression,we invertedequation(2) andtook the log of both
sides.
Table 1. Calculation of empirical parameters
p,/p, = aSw”-‘CT
Number
Lithology n c U of points
Sandstone 2.24 2 0.02 1.04 k .Ol 1.7 f 0.2 87
Limestone 1.8 r0.1 1.04 k .Ol 1.3 + 1.2 21
Unconsolidated
material 1.7 k0.l 1.04 ? .01 0.5 2 0.3 ?K
Pooledestimate 2.01 + 0.02 I .05 t .Ol 1.3 + 0.3 136
All errorscalculatedto the 95% level of confidence.
.---.

SANDSTONE
. 0l.j~ __-.
.o .l
/. i ocjGv)
FIG. 1. pI/pr compensatedfor temperatureeffects plotted versus
SW for the data used in developing the regressionmodels. The
scatterof the dataaboutthe regressionlines illustratesthe fit to the
model. The regressionlines have slope n - I and intercept log
(n).
log @f/P,) = T log (C) t (n - I) log (SKI1.
Our dependent variable was thus log (pt/p,) and the first two
independentvariables were T and log (SW). Using this simple
regressionmodel, we found that n is equal to 2.01 and C is equal
to 1.05.
To examine the effects of lithology, we expandedthis simple
model usingqualitativeor indicator variables. Indicator variables
can take on one of two values, dependingon whether or not the
sampleis a memberof a particularqualitativeclass.We usedtwo
qualitative variables in the expanded model to test the effect
of lithology. The first comparedconsolidatedand unconsolidated
sediments,and the secondcomparedlimestoneswith sandsand
sandstones.We also included cross productsbetween the two
qualitative variablesand log (SW) becausethis allowed us to in-
dependentlyestimaten for the three lithologic classes.Values of
the empiricalparameterscalculatedfrom this regressionmodel are
listed in Table I. Figure 1 illustratesthe scatterof the data about
the regressionmodel.
Physical properties of gas hydrate depositsand ice in situ
Natural gas hydrate depositsand permafrostconsistof porous
sedimentaryrock whose pore spacesare partially or completely
filled with hydratesor ice. The physical propertiesof these de-
posits thus depend on the propertiesof the rock matrix, the hy-
drates, and the amountand compositionof the unfrozen water or
gasthat alsomay be presentin the pores.A liquid water phasewill
nearly always be present becauseof ions dissolved in the pore
waters. We calculate SW for hydrate solutionsby plotting the
pressuresand temperaturesassociatedwith points along the geo-
thermalgradienton a family of hydratestabilitycurvesfor differ-
ent NaCl solutionsand then using the curves to estimate brine
concentrationat equilibrium with methane hydrates. We used a
Seismic 11
Temperature (F)
cr
- 200
1
I I ,( 100
-10 0 10 20
Temperature (Cl
FIG. 2. Hypotheticalgeothermalgradientappropriatefor northern
Alaska hydrates can form in brine solutionsonly at pressures
abovethe curveappropriatefor this particularbrineconcentration.
(2)
very similar methodto estimatethe brine concentrationsin perma-
frost. Once we calculatethe brine phaseconcentrations,we can
easily calculate.Skrassumingthat none of the dissolvedions dif-
fuseout of the partiallyfrozen sediments.OnceSbrasa functionof
depth is known, we can calculatethe resistivitiesusing equation
(I). The calculationis shown graphically in Figure 2. Note that
hydratebearingsedimentshave resistivityhigherthanboththawed
sediments(~_‘=r IO 0-m) and permafrost,
Conclusions
(1) The Archies‘ law relationshipfirst proposedby Desai and
Moore (1967) adequatelydescribesthe relationshipbetween re-
sistivityand unfrozenwatercontentfor a wide varietyof rocksand
soils.
(2) Electrical resistivities of hydrate depositscan be several
ordersof magnitudehigher than unhydratedsedimentsdepending
on the unfrozenwater content.This effect may allow us to calcu-
late the unfrozenwater contentin hydratedepositsfrom electrical
measurementsusingequation2.
(3) Natural gas hydratedepositswill always have significantly
higher resistivitiesthan similar unfrozen sediments. More sur-
prisingly, as shown in Figure 3, hydratedepositswill often have
significantly higher resistivitiesthan nearby permafrost. This is
becausehydrateswill form toward the bottom of the permafrost
zone where the ice containsa large amount of unfrozen water.
Hydrates.however, stabilizedby the greaterpressure,will have a
much lower water contentand thus, higher resistivities.
References
Dew. K. I’.. andMoore.E. J.. 1’167,Well log interpretsnon 111per”~t-
frost:Trans.Sot. Prof. Well LogAnalysts,p. l-27.
Dumas. M. C.. 1962. Electrd resistivltk and dielectl-It.L’~I\LIIII\ 11
frozen rocks:IV. S. thesis. Colorado
School01‘Minrz.
 Seismic 11

RESISTIVITYOHM-M A Model For Crosscoupling Flows S11.8

---
Lp 3 z in Rocks

\
s!

\
e W. R. Sill, Earth Science Lab

A’\\’
The self-potential(SP) methodof explorationis basedon mea-
surementof naturallyoccurringelectric potentials.These poten-
tials can be generatedby fluid flow (electrokineticcoupling), heat
flow (thermoelectriccoupling), and diffusion flow (electrochemi-
cal coupling). For example, in the coupled electric current flow
problem,the flow of ionsdependsnot only on the electricfield but
also on the other forcesactingon the system. Among theseother
forces are gradientsof pressure,temperature,and concentration.
-300 The crosscouplingcoefficientsrelate the various componentsof
currentflow to theseother forcesjust as the electricalconductivity
relatesthe ordinary conductioncurrent to the electric field.
In a recentpaper (Sill, 1982), I showedhow this formalismfor
electrokineticand thermoelectriccrosscouplingcan be usedto de-
velop a techniquefor the numericalmodelingof theseSP generat-
\ ing mechanisms.Numerical modelingrequiresinformationon the
permeabilityor thermalconductivity, electrical conductivity,and
the appropriatecrosscouplingparameter. Unfortunately, there is
-600
very little data on which to base the selectionof crosscoupling
parametersfor the numericalmodel. It is probablymore common
to have some informationor better estimatesof other parameters
such as electrical conductivity,porosity, etc. In an effort to alle-
viate this problem, a model for crosscouplingin rocks has been
;‘ ; developed. The model is basedon theoreticalconsiderationsof
V
/ crosscouplingin a capillary and the representationof a rock as a
network of capillaries.The distributionof pore sizes in a rock is
z -900 taken as a log normaldistribution,and geometric-meanaveraging
is used to derive the network properties. This model should be
EL useful in estimatingthe cross-couplingparametersof rocks pro-
0 vided some other information is known or can be estimated.
Among the other parametersthat can be used are porosity, per-
meability, porewaterconductivity,surfaceconductivity,and total
rock conductivity. Not all of these other parametersneed be
known.
Numerousmixing laws can be usedto describethe propertiesof
/
-1200 heterogeneoussystems(Madden, 1976). The analytic solutions
that have been developedfor primary and crosscoupledflows in
capillariesnaturally lead to models that considerthe fluid filled
/ portionof a rock as a networkof interconnectedcapillaries(Mazur
and Overbeek, 1951). In the most simple case the model could
/ consistof a bundleof noninterconnected capillarieswhich conduct
r

--
HYDRATES
- ICE
-1500
FIG. 3. Electrical resistivitiesversusdepth for the geothermalgra-
dient shown in Figure 2.
Hoyer.W. A., Simmons, S. O., Spann,M. M., andWatson,A. T., 1975,
Evaluation of permafrostwith well logs:Trans.Sot. Prof. Well Log
Analysts.AAI-15.
Pandit.B. 1.. andKing, M. S., 1979, A studyon the effectsof pore water
salinity on somephysical propertiesof sedimentaryrocks at permafrost
temperatures:Can. J. Earth Sci.. Y. 16, p. 1566-1580.
Patterson.D. E.. and Smith, M. W., 1981, The measurementof unfrozen
water content by time domain reflectometry:results from laboratory
testx Can. GeotechJ., v. 18, p. 131-144.
in parallel. Bending or twisting the tubes is incorporatedinto a
tortuositycoefficient which is ultimately combined with the po-
rosityin the formationfactor. This simpletype of modelsometimes
providesa useful descriptionof some rock parametersas in the
case of electrical conductivitywhen bulk electrolyticconduction
dominates. Sucha model is much less successfulfor fluid flow as
it usuallyoverestimatesthe permeabilityby manyordersofmagni-
tude in the lower rangesof porosity.
Madden (1976) presentsanotherapproachto the modeling of
rock propertiesby usingpseudo-randomnetworks. He notesthat
someinefficienciesin rock conductionare due to the fact that wide
and narrow conductionpathsare in serieswith each other as well
as in parallel. In his embeddednetwork models, the averagenet-
work conductanceoften tendstowardthe geometricmeanwhich is
also a compromisebetweenseriesand parallelcombinations.The
model development that follows uses this strategy (geometric-
mean) of series-parallelcombinationalong with a simplecapillary
model on the small scale.