Exploration programs that rely on the bottom simulating reflector as the primary hydrate marker may be missing significant accumulations of gas hydrate on continental slopes. I propose that, in at least some reservoirs, gas hydrate forms primarily as dikes, which are not imaged by conventional seismic surveys. Development of the dikes is controlled by free gas pore pressure, reservoir stresses, and the cohesion and friction angle of the sediment. Multiple dikes are expected to be parallel, or to develop in chevrons, but may not be equally spaced.
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