Geophysical Investigations for Study of Hydrocarbon Accumulations in the Bottom Structures of West Antarctic Region

Abstract

The results of the geoelectric measurements and remote sensing (RS) data processing for study of hydrocarbon (HC) accumulations in the bottom structures of the West Antarctic region obtained during the seasonal geophysical works of the 17th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition, March 2012 are given. Four "hydrocarbon deposit" type anomalies were detected on Antarctic margin in the region of UAS "Academic Vernadsky". Some anomalous parameters of polarized layers were chosen by VERS sounding within these anomalies. These data confirm the possible existence of the new oil and gas area in this part of the Antarctic continental margin. The presence of a number of remote sensing anomalous zones beyond the seismic BSR-zones shows that the actual gas hydrates and free gas accumulation on the South Shetland margin are much higher than previously calculated. These data allow including the study area to one of the most promising areas of gas hydrate accumulations on the continental margin of West Antarctica. Practical experiments in the Antarctic region testify that integration of RS data processing results and data of geoelectric survey by the FSPEF-VERS methods may be used for the hydrocarbon accumulation prospecting in the difficult of access and remote regions.