Indian Journal of Marine Sciences

Vol. 38(1), March 2009, pp. 110-115

Heat flow variation from bottom simulating reflector in the Kerala-Konkan basin
of the western continental margin of India
Uma Shankar and Kalachand Sain
National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 606, India
(Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi)
[E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]]

The base of the gas-hydrate stability field, representing the bottom simulating reflector or BSR, is observed over a
closely spaced grid of multichannel seismic data in the Kerala-Konkan (KK) basin of the western continental margin of
India (WCMI). The data reveal that gas-hydrates occur in the KK basin at places where water depth exceeds 1500 m. The
thickness of the gas-hydrate stability field, inferred from BSR on seismic data, ranges between 190 and 340 m. The
geothermal gradient, estimated from BSR, ranges from 40 to 60°C/km. The corresponding heat flow values vary between 36
to 54 mW/m2. The result shows a seaward increase in geothermal gradient in the KK basin and brings out relatively high
heat flow to the north and low heat flow in the south of the study area. The high heat flow distribution is explained by the
decrease of sediment thickness proximal to the ocean/continent boundary.
[Keywords: WCMI, Kerala-Konkan, Gas-hydrates, BSR, Geothermal gradient, Heat flow]

Introduction in detail4. The phase diagram for methane in pure

Gas-hydrates are ice-like solid belonging to the water and in seawater have been compared with the
class of clathrate compound in which the gas (mainly laboratory data and in-situ measurements of the Deep
methane) molecules are trapped within cages of water Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Ocean Drilling
molecules. Gas-hydrates are considered as the future Program (ODP) sites5,6. The seafloor is the upper limit
major energy resource for our country1. They also of the gas-hydrate stability zone where water depth is
play role in global climate change and submarine more than 300 m. The lower limit for the hydrate
hazards2. Seismic evidence of gas-hydrates was first stability field depends mainly on the bathymetry,
observed over the Blake outer ridge3. Since then, geothermal gradient and the seafloor temperature.
numerous studies have been carried out to infer gas- The purpose of this study is to characterize the base
hydrates at many places in the permafrost and outer of gas-hydrates stability field and to derive the
continental margins, particularly in the accretionary geothermal gradient and heat flow map in the KK
wedges. Gas-hydrates are mainly detected by basin of the WCMI with a view to shed light on
mapping an anomalous reflector, known as the BSR geothermal aspects. To obtain these physical
using the seismic experiment. This reflector is properties, we utilize the BSR observed on the
identified based on its characteristic features of multichannel seismic (MCS) data at water depth
mimicking the shape of seafloor reflection event; between 500 to 30007.
cutting across dipping sedimentary strata and having
opposite polarity with respect to the seafloor Materials and Methods
reflection event. The BSR is often associated with the Geological setting
base of the gas-hydrate stability zone. The WCMI has evolved as a consequence of the
Gas-hydrates are formed at shallow sediments in breakup of the eastern Gondwanaland, specifically the
moderately low temperature and high pressure separation of Madagascar and later Seychelles from
regime. Temperature, pressure, methane India about 80-65 ma ago. It is a typical continental
concentration, pore fluid salinity, and molecular margin of the Atlantic type, with sedimentation
composition of gas are the main factors that influence accompanying subsidence in several areas. The
the formation and dissociation of gas-hydrates. The margin is characterized by the Chagos-Laccadive
stability criteria of gas-hydrates have been discussed Ridge (CLR), Pratap, Lakshmi and Basement ridges
 UMA SHANKAR AND KALACHAND SAIN: HEAT FLOW VARIATION IN THE KERALA-KONKAN BASIN 111

and offshore sedimentary basins like KK, Bombay prevailing fluid expulsion process, sediment
and Saurasthra. This renders the WCMI a complex thickening and the nature of heat transport
ridge-graben tectonic regime8. These basins have mechanisms (i.e. whether advective or conductive) in
evolved through two phases of rifting during the late an area. Several such studies have been reported for
Cretaceous. The earliest being the Kutch offshore various margins of the world oceans. Baikal Rift
basin followed by the KK and the Bombay offshore Zone15, Blake Ridge and Nankai Trough16,
basins. The KK basin forms the southern part of this Makran17,18, Cascadia19,20,21, Barbados22, Oregon23 and
margin. Six contiguous tectonic elements have been Chile Triple Junction24. Present study is limited to the
identified as shelfal horst-graben complex, Kori- estimation of geothermal gradient and heat flow from
Comorin depression, Kori-Comorin ridge, Laxmi- the BSRs in the KK basin of the WCMI.
Laccadive depression, Laxmi-Laccadive ridge and
Arabian abyssal plain9. The Indus fan sediments, Data and analysis
which is the youngest, have also contributed The MCS reflection data used in this study were
significantly to the sedimentation history along the originally collected over the WCMI in 1993 as a part
margin. Sediment thickness varies from 1-3 km in the of exploration programme for hydrocarbon
southern part of the WCMI near the study area and explorations by ONGC Limited. The data were made
increases to more than 6 km in the north10. The available to NGRI by the Gas Authority of India
presence of the Bombay High structure, a potential oil Limited (GAIL) with a view to reprocess with
bearing structure, together with other oil and gas suitable parameters for identifying possible locations
bearing structures are indicators for the hydrocarbon of gas-hydrate-bearing horizons. Good quality MCS
potential in the WCMI. data were collected along 12 seismic lines (Fig. 1)
covering ~5000 km in the study area. The data set
The surfacial sediments of the Arabian Sea are
consists of 96 channels with 48 fold coverage. They
characterized by high sedimentation rates 0.44-0.88
were collected with air-gun array source tuned with a
mm/yr, and total organic carbon (TOC) concentration
total volume of 1382 cubic inches and a streamer
of 2-4% with a good degree of preservation11. These
length of 2375 m. The seismic source had a frequency
parameters indicate favorable conditions for the
range from 3.5 to 128 Hz. Processing of seismic data
generation of methane and formation of gas-hydrates
was carried out using the commercial seismic data
along the WCMI. Based on multi-disciplinary
processing software (ProMAX) installed on SUN
geophysical data (swath bathymetry, echo sounding,
workstations using suitable parameters that include
chirp sonar, side scan sonar and sub-bottom profiler);
predictive deconvolution and careful band pass
geochemical anomalies (sulphate reduction, methane
enrichment and chloride depletion) and
microbiological proxies (sulphate and nitrate reducing
bacteria and fermenters), Ramana et al.12 indicate that
both margins (especially the KK basin in the west and
the Krishna-Godavari basin in the east) are promising
for gas-hydrates occurrences. Various proxies13 like
pockmarks, seeps, venting of gas, blanking and
diapir-like features also showed favorable conditions
for the formation of gas-hydrates in the western
margins of India. In fact, BSRs, the most important
proxies for gas-hydrates are observed on both single-
and multi-channel seismic data along the WCMI7,14.
Evolution of the continental margin can be better
understood from the knowledge of its geothermal
structure. Heat flow estimated from BSR depths is
significant for inaccessible areas, where probe
Fig. 1—Solid lines represent the multi-channel seismic lines in the
measurement is risky. The BSR derived heat flow vicinity of the KK basin of the WCMI. Shaded portion of seismic
values can be used to prepare the heat flow map that lines are identified BSRs on seismic sections7. Contours represent
provides input to understand the geothermal structure, the bathymetry over the region in meters.
112 INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 38, NO. 1, MARCH 2009

filtering to help remove the receiver ghost reflection. parameters such as pressure, temperature, salinity and
A band pass filter (8-10-60-70 Hz) was applied to the gas molecular composition, which in turn, control the
data. True amplitude recovery was done at 6 dB/s. depth of BSR. Fig. 4 shows the schematic phase
The BSR, associated with the base of the gas-hydrates diagram based on gas-hydrate phase equilibrium
stability zone, is shown at ~2950 ms two way travel studies of pure-water-methane and sea-water-methane
time (TWTT) in one representative seismic stack hydrate system with 4% pore water salinity. The
section (Fig. 2) in the study area. Presence of gas- choice of 4% salinity depends on earlier studies on
hydrates changes the acoustic impedance resulting in core samples from the WCMI which have a range of
blanking (reduction in seismic amplitudes) 3.84-4.59%31. The BSR temperatures in the DSDP-
phenomenon. Since the bedding planes are parallel to ODP drill holes from other margin20 are also plotted
the seafloor, the cross-cutting phenomenon is not in Fig. 4. This shows that most sites are falling on the
manifested. Since the P-wave velocity of pure gas- lower side of pure water-methane hydrate curve and
hydrates is much higher than that of the normal close to the sea water-methane hydrate curve.
oceanic sediments, higher velocities for gas-hydrates-
bearing sediments, typically varying between 2000 to
4000 m/s, are generally observed above the BSR at
many continental margins of the world25,26,27. The
average velocity of the hydrates-bearing sediment
upto the BSR is found to be 2000 m/s28. The sound
velocities of sonobuoys29for the sediments in the
Arabian Sea show the velocity variation from 1794-
1826 m/s30, which are considered as the background
velocity i.e. the velocity of the sediments without gas-
hydrates. Therefore, we convert the TWTT of various
BSRs into the depths using the 2000 m/s average
velocity of sediments. As BSR represents the base of
gas-hydrates stability zone, we prepare the gas-
hydrates stability thickness map (Fig. 3) in the KK
region. The map shows that the stability thickness
varies widely between 190 to 340 m.
Stability of gas-hydrates in marine sediments can
be better understood from studying gas-hydrates Fig. 3—Gas-hydrates stability thickness map in the KK basin of
phase equilibrium4. In a given region, phase the WCMI. NGHP drilling site is indicated by ☼
equilibrium curve is defined by the physical

Fig. 2—A representative multi-channel seismic stack section

showing the bottom simulating reflector (BSR) and hydrate Fig. 4—Phase diagram of methane hydrate stability field for pure
stability zone (HSZ). water-methane and sea water-methane hydrate system4.
 UMA SHANKAR AND KALACHAND SAIN: HEAT FLOW VARIATION IN THE KERALA-KONKAN BASIN 113

The sea floor temperatures (T0) in the study area decreases the thermal conductivity of sediments and
can be known either from the measured values or its variation exhibits no systematic pattern22. To
from the hydrothermal charts. Using the BSR depth, calculate the heat flow of the region, we should know
we determine the temperature at BSRs (Tz) from Fig. the thermal conductivities in the area. The thermal
4, and subsequently calculate the geothermal gradient conductivity measured recently by the Indian NGHP
at various points. The heat flow (Q) of a region can be Expedition 0134 at a location (Figs 1, 3, 6 and 7) to the
calculated by multiplying the geothermal gradient northwest of the study region shows wide variation of
with the thermal conductivity (k) of the region22 as 0.439 to 1.174 W/m °C from the sea floor to 256 m
below the sea floor. The average thermal conductivity
Q = -k(Tz – T0)/Z … (1) is calculated as 0.88 W/m °C. The average value of
global thermal conductivity is also observed as
The accuracy of this estimation depends upon the
velocity information to convert the TWTT into
depths, pore water salinity, gas molecular
composition, choice of hydrate system and type of
conductive regime considered. As the effects of other
parameters such as pore pressures, sediment density,
grain size and variation in sea floor temperature on
heat flow estimations are negligible22; these were
ignored for the computations.

Results and Discussion

The values of sea floor temperatures (T0) have been
taken from the appropriate hydrothermal charts32,33
and we show the sea bottom temperature contour map
(Fig. 5) in the WCMI. We determine the temperatures
at various BSRs (Tz) and then calculate the
geothermal gradients at respective points in the KK
basin up to the water depth of 3000 m. The Fig. 6—Geothermal gradient map, derived from the identified
geothermal gradient map (Fig. 6) shows the variation BSRs, in the KK basin of the WCMI. NGHP drilling site is
from 40 to 60°C/Km. Formation of gas-hydrates indicated by ☼.

Fig. 5—Sea bottom temperature (in °C) contour map for the
WCMI. Inbox shows the study area with seismic lines and Fig. 7—Heat flow map, derived from the identified BSRs, in the
identified BSRs (solid circles). KK basin of the WCMI. NGHP drilling site is indicated by ☼.
114 INDIAN J. MAR. SCI., VOL. 38, NO. 1, MARCH 2009

0.91 W/m °C35 for the sedimentary column. By 2 Kvenvolden, K.A., A primer on the geological occurrence of
assuming a uniform thermal conductivity of 0.88 gas hydrate, In: Gas Hydrates: Relevance to the World
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equation (1) and prepare the heat flow map (Fig. 7) Publications), 137(1998), pp. 9-30
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