Geographical information system applied to geophysical data to study gas hydrate

We show an application of geographical information system for mapping the regional distribution of gas hydrates reservoir in the South Shetland continental margin. In this area gas hydrates reservoir was detected by using an integrated approach. The available geophysical information are the following: Multibeam data, seismic images, 2D and 3D velocity and porosity models, 2D and 3D gas phase concentrations, pore pressure information, chirp images, gravity core analysis and CTD data. The first step consisted in collecting and homogenizing the data, which has been organized in a specific database, in order to connect all scientific information acquired in the area. This integrated approach has allowed us to obtain regional information, such as 3D distribution of geothermal gradient.