USGS Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Gas Hydrate Studies a part of the geophysics group
What is Gas Hydrate?
Gas Hydrate is an ice-like crystalline solid formed from a mixture of water and natural gas, usually methane. They occur in the pore spaces of sediments, and may form cements, nodes or layers.
Where is Gas Hydrate found?
Gas Hydrate is found in sub-oceanic sediments in the polar regions (shallow water) and in continental slope sediments (deep water), where pressure and temperature conditions combine to make it stable.
Why is it important to study Gas Hydrate?
Natural Gas Hydrate contains highly concentrated methane, which is important both as an energy resource and as a factor in global climate change.
How is gas hydrate studied?
Gas Hydrate can be studied in the laboratory, where a machine is used to create the proper pressure and temperature conditions for hydrate formation, or it can be studied in situ using seismic data collected aboard ships and geophysical models.
Who studies Gas Hydrate?
Currently, groups of scientists in the U.S., Canada, Norway, Great Britain and Japan are working to try to understand gas hydrate and the role it plays in the global climate and the future of fuels.
Gas Hydrates and the "Bermuda Triangle"
Does loss of gas from gas hydrate account for extensive ship-sinkings in the "Bermuda Triangle"
USGS Gas Hydrate Resources
Research and publications of the USGS
Gas Hydrate Web Sites
Research and publications of other groups participating in gas hydrate research
