May 19 - Day 33 - Status Report

May 19  - Keathley Canyon 151 - Logging completed

Location: Keathley Canyon 151#3

Science Update - May 19:
Wireline logging and Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) programs were carried out over the 120-342 mbsf interval in the KC151#3 hole today. VSP programs provide a high-resolution seismic image of the immediate vicinity of the borehole.  Logs showed high velocity intervals that correlate with the high resistivity intervals in the KC151#2 Logging While Drilling (LWD) hole. The VSP shot 108 stations over about the same depth interval. The hole was abandoned with a cement plug and the drill string and sea bed frame are being picked up during the night. Another Hyacinth Rotary Corer (HRC) pressure core (13C) was degassed, yielding about 7.3 L of gas. The shipboard gas chromatograph was down, and the gas composition will be determined later in a shore-based lab. The core was 60 cm in length in a 1-m core barrel, with the balance filled with water. The core will be opened and further analyzed to determine porosity and other physical properties. If the gas was 75% methane (with the balance air) and the porosity of the core 50%, then the amount of methane in excess of that which could be dissolved in the water requires that an average of about 3% of the pore space in the recovered pressure core was occupied by methane hydrate.

Plans:
Pack up lab equipment and samples, prepare for shipping to various locations at the conclusion of the cruise on Sunday.

Planning and Data Sheet for KC151 - #3   [PDF-10KB] 

Special Report - Pressurized Coring and Analyses Equipment

Special Report - core handling

Special Report - Conventional Wireline Logging Operations in the Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate JIP Drilling Program - Timothy Collett, USGS

Maps of drill sites - Shows Keathley Canyon and Atwater Valley locations

Photos:
Coring Photo Gallery - Photos showing pressure coring and analyses equipment
Day 16 Photo Gallery  - Photos by NETL scientist showing core analyses process and equipment
Day 13 Photo Gallery  - Photos by NETL scientist showing drilling preparation
Day 12 Photo Gallery  - Photos by NETL scientist showing core retrieval and processing
Day 10 Photo Gallery  - Pressurized core prior to transfer to lab and seabed frame preparation
Day 6 Photo Gallery - Working with push cores and ROV photos of sample collection at AT 14
Day 4 Photo Gallery - Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), Sampling, Core Handling
Day 3 Photo Gallery - Preparation for Drilling
Day 2 Photo Gallery Loading the Uncle John [PowerPoint]
The drill ship out to sea - Setting up the lab [PowerPoint]