Abstract:
An infrared thermal imaging camera was used to image sediment
cores on the catwalk, immediately following coring and prior to processing.
The camera was used to identify negative temperature anomalies.
These were investigated for their utility in identifying gas hydrate
prior to dissociation, which occurs rapidly because of the temperature
increase and pressure decrease associated with the coring process. The
camera was successful in identifying distinct negative temperature
anomalies in intervals of gas hydrate. The methodology requires some
modification to improve efficiency but holds great potential to investigate
thermal properties of sediments and rapidly identify gas hydrate.
