Abstract
Beneath the base of gas-hydrate stability (BGHS), gas-hydrate is disintegrated into gas and water that form an “unsaturated zone”. Some gas-hydrate belts are located in the plate convergent margins, where fluid flows in the sub-BGHS unsaturated zones may have hydrogeological relevance. The fluid flow in unsaturated zone has a complicated mechanism due to flows in both gas and liquid phases, and hydraulic interaction (exchange of water) between the fracture and matrix. Furthermore, the formation of biofilms on fracture surfaces possibly alters the hydraulic properties of fractured rock masses. For accurate evaluation of macroscopic hydraulic properties of an unsaturated fractured rock system, a laboratory experiment was performed using two rock blocks with a single-fracture in-between. Absorption of a part of the water flowing through the fracture was experimentally measured and quantitatively evaluated by a single parameter, “sorptivity”. Some microorganisms were cultured in the laboratory to form biofilms on the rock surface and some colonized in intergrain micro-cracks. Based on theoretical considerations, we also hypothesize the potential for biofilm-forming microorganisms to alter macroscopic hydraulic properties of unsaturated fractured rock masses.
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