Pore-size distribution and permeability properties of typical sandy sediments based on the eastern Nankai Trough seidiments

Gas hydrate-bearing sediments from the eastern Nankai Trough, Japan, have been characterized in terms of their lithology, interpreted processes and paleoenvironments of deposition, and various geometric parameters of their grain size distribution. These data have been used to determine the relative influence of each characteristic on gas hydrate saturation within the sedimentary column. Based on this grain size data, we produced typical three kinds of sandy sediments as standard sediments, i.e., (1) silty sand, (2) sandy silt, and (3) clayey silt, respectively. Pore-size distribution and permeability of each sediment have been measured and compared with those of sediments collected from the eastern Nankai Trough. This study is financially supported by METI and Research Consortium for Methane Hydrate Resources in Japan (the MH21 Research Consortium).