INFLUENCE FACTORS FOR GAS HYDRATE FORMATION AND DECOMPOSITION IN SOUTHWEST BARENTS SEA: A REVIEW

There are abundant petroleum and gas hydrate resources in the Arctic, which is also an important window to the study of global environmental change. A large number of methane leakage activities have been found in the southwest Barents Sea. This contribution is devoted to a review of published literatures from previous investigations, so as to sum up the resource indicators, leakage characteristics and spatial distribution of gas hydrate found on the continental shelf of the southwest Barents Sea, reveal the controlling factors of gas hydrate formation and decomposition and evaluate the resource potential of gas hydrate. It is important to ascertain the hydrate resources in and around the Barents Sea to enhance China′s voice in Arctic affairs, put forward the research on global climate change and develop the geological theory on gas hydrate reservoirs in high-latitude waters.