DOE OSTI · 2584141
Expedition UT-GOM2-2 Methods
Abstract
Methods used during the University of Texas (UT) Deepwater Hydrate Coring Expedition (UT-GOM2-2) include work done onboard the Helix Q4000 in the offshore Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico), herein “the Gulf”, “dockside” in Salt Lake City, Utah, and some shore-based work in individual laboratories. The goal of this report is two-fold: to provide enough detail on the methods so they can be repeated by others; and to provide a reference document for the team to enhance cross-disciplinary understanding and knowledge. Methods include drilling operations, depth references and depth modification, downhole tool deployment, coring tool performance assessment, core processing, lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, as well as physical properties, including core logging and imaging, rock magnetism, dissolved methane concentration, hydrate saturation, microbiology, and geochemistry. An extensive amount of operational work and planning was required before mobilization of the expedition to permit, build mobile labs, and test downhole tools for deepwater drilling.
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Flemings, Peter B. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000253773694), Thomas, Carla [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000181310649), Phillips, Stephen C. [US Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000308584701), Collett, Timothy S. [US Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000275984708), Cook, Ann E. [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000256580329), Solomon, Evan [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000336842958), Colwell, Frederick S. [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)] (ORCID:0000000271095874), Johnson, Joel E. [Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000256717209), Aawiller, David [ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co., Annandale, NJ (United States)], Aylward, Irita [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)], Bhandari, Athma R. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000209858041), Brooks, Donald [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)], Buser-Young, Jessica Z. [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)] (ORCID:0000000236664074), Cardona, Alejandro [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:000000017964384X), Casso, Michael A. [US Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000269909090), Coyte, Rachel [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000163695311), Darrah, Tom [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)], Davis, Marcy [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)], Dugan, Brandon [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000225556430), Duncan, Dan [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000347827104), Germaine, John T. [Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States)] (ORCID:000000017882098X), Holland, Melanie [Geotek Ltd., Northamptonshire (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000335106457), Houghton, Jesse [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000255109789), Martin, Saffron [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0009000638911653), Mills, N. Tanner [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000185783232), Mimitz, Michael [Geotek Coring Inc., West Valley City, UT (United States)], Minarich, Daniel [Geotek Coring Inc., West Valley City, UT (United States)], Morono, Yuki [Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokohama (Japan)] (ORCID:0000000189284254), Murphy, Zachary [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000259359101), O’Connell, Joshua [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)], Petrou, Ethan [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000265427318), Pettigrew, Tom [Pettigrew Engineering, Hobbs, NM (United States)], Pohlman, John W. [US Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000235634586), Portnov, Alexey [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000349308308), Purkey Phillips, Marcie [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000313424358), Redd, Thomas [TR Consulting], Sawyer, Derek E. [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000207797775), Schultheiss, Peter [Geotek Ltd., Northamptonshire (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:000000029090944X), Shannon, Kelly [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)] (ORCID:0000000277831473), Small, Cathal [Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States)], Sullivan, Camille [Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)], Tozier, Kayla [Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)] (ORCID:0009000991325014), Tsang, Man-Yin [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000211592588), Van Der Maal, Camila [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0009000910271350), Waite, William F. [US Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000294364109), Walton, Taylor [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000242275294). 2025-09-01. Expedition UT-GOM2-2 Methods. https://doi.org/10.2172/2584141
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