Robert Scharping, a post-doctoral fellow jointly appointed by the USGS and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) measures water chemistry 40’ underwater and underground in Double Keyhole Cave near the coastline of Tampa Bay Florida.
U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrates Project
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project has been making contributions to advance understanding of US and international gas hydrates science for at least three decades. The research group working on gas hydrates at the USGS is among the largest in the US and has expertise in all the major geoscience disciplines, as well as in the physics and chemistry of gas hydrates, the geotechnical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments, and the biogeochemistry of marine and permafrost gas hydrate systems. The group includes field-based scientists, numerical modelers, laboratory scientists, and supporting technical personnel for marine, permafrost, and laboratory operations. Much of the research is carried out in collaboration with other federal agencies (especially the U.S. Department of Energy) or academic partners, and there are frequently opportunities to collaborate on international programs that jointly serve the Project's mission and the goals of the international partners.
Gas Hydrates Research
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project focuses on the study of natural gas hydrates in deepwater marine systems and permafrost areas.
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project focuses on the study of natural gas hydrates in deepwater marine systems and permafrost areas. The primary goals are:
- Evaluate methane hydrates as a potential energy source
- Investigate the interaction between methane hydrate destabilization and climate change at short and long time scales
- Study the spatial and temporal connections between submarine slope failures and gas hydrate dynamics
The Gas Hydrate Project conducts multidisciplinary field studies, participates in national and international deep drilling expeditions, and maintains several laboratories focused on hydrate-bearing sediments.
Scientific research associated with the Gas Hydrates Project.
The Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment (MATRIX)
Delineating the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf
USGS Law of the Sea
IMMeRSS-- Interagency Mission for Methane Research on Seafloor Seeps
Gas Hydrates- Atlantic Margin Methane Seeps
Gas Hydrates- Submarine Slope Destabilization
Environmental Compliance
Gas Hydrates- Climate and Hydrate Interactions
Gas Hydrates- Energy
Gas Hydrates - Primer
Data Releases associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Dataset of diatom controls on the compressibility and permeability of fine-grained sediment collected offshore of South Korea during the Second Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrate Expedition, UBGH2
Dataset of diatom controls on the sedimentation behavior of fine-grained sediment collected offshore of South Korea during the Second Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrate Expedition, UBGH2
Water column physical and chemical properties of Cenote Bang, a component of the Ox Bel Ha cave network within the subterranean estuary coastal aquifer of the Yucatan Peninsula, from December 2013 to January 2016
Comparison of methane concentration and stable carbon isotope data for natural samples analyzed by discrete sample introduction module - cavity ring down spectroscopy (DSIM-CRDS) and traditional methods
Split-beam Echo Sounder and Navigation Data Collected Using a Simrad EK80 Wide Band Tranceiver and ES38-10 Transducer During the Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment (MATRIX), USGS Field Activity 2018-002-FA.
Multichannel Seismic-Reflection and Navigation Data Collected Using Sercel GI Guns and Geometrics GeoEel Digital Streamers During the Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment (MATRIX), USGS Field Activity 2018-002-FA
Dependence of sedimentation behavior on pore-fluid chemistry for sediment collected offshore South Korea during the Second Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrate Expedition, UBGH2
Marine Geophysical Data Collected to Support Methane Seep Research Along the U.S. Atlantic Continental Shelf Break and Upper Continental Slope Between the Baltimore and Keller Canyons During U.S. Geological Survey Field Activities 2017-001-FA and 2017-002
Thermal Data and Navigation for T-3 (Fletcher's) Ice Island Arctic Ocean Heat Flow Studies, 1963-73 (ver. 1.1 December 2022)
Post-expedition report for USGS T-3 Ice Island heat flow measurements in the High Arctic Ocean, 1963-1973
Pressure Core Characterization Tool Measurements of Compressibility, Permeability, and Shear Strength of Fine-Grained Sediment Collected from Area C, Krishna-Godavari Basin, during India's National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition NGHP-02
Two-dimensional micromodel study of pore-throat clogging by pure fine-grained sediments and natural sediments from the 2015 National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 2 (NGHP-02), offshore India
Mulitmedia items associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Robert Scharping, a post-doctoral fellow jointly appointed by the USGS and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) measures water chemistry 40’ underwater and underground in Double Keyhole Cave near the coastline of Tampa Bay Florida.
Atlantic spotted dolphins photographed near the R/V Hugh R. Sharp on August 27, 2018 by the protected species visual observers.
Atlantic spotted dolphins photographed near the R/V Hugh R. Sharp on August 27, 2018 by the protected species visual observers.
Four diesel-powered compressors chained to the deck of the R/V Hugh R. Sharp provided the air to power the seismic sources during the MATRIX cruise.
Four diesel-powered compressors chained to the deck of the R/V Hugh R. Sharp provided the air to power the seismic sources during the MATRIX cruise.
Jenny White McKee and Pete Dal Ferro of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center retrieve two airguns during the 2018 MATRIX cruise aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp. The seismic streamer is visible on the winch in the foreground.
Jenny White McKee and Pete Dal Ferro of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center retrieve two airguns during the 2018 MATRIX cruise aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp. The seismic streamer is visible on the winch in the foreground.
Engineering technician Jenny McKee from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California watches as an expendable sonobuoy leaves the launcher during the 2018 MATRIX cruise on research vessel Hugh R.
Engineering technician Jenny McKee from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California watches as an expendable sonobuoy leaves the launcher during the 2018 MATRIX cruise on research vessel Hugh R.
USGS personnel configuring and deploying the streamer of hydrophone receivers on the R/V Hugh R. Sharp during the MATRIX cruise. In foreground from left to right are Nathan Miller, Wayne Baldwin, and Eric Moore from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.
USGS personnel configuring and deploying the streamer of hydrophone receivers on the R/V Hugh R. Sharp during the MATRIX cruise. In foreground from left to right are Nathan Miller, Wayne Baldwin, and Eric Moore from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.
Tim Collett, USGS research geologist, presenting at the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources' (KIGAM) international program for geoscience resources.
Tim Collett, USGS research geologist, presenting at the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources' (KIGAM) international program for geoscience resources.
USGS scientists, Bill Waite, Tim Collett, and Seth Haines in front of a archway in Daejeon, South Korea
USGS scientists, Bill Waite, Tim Collett, and Seth Haines in front of a archway in Daejeon, South Korea
Core storage facility at the the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources in Daejeon, South Korea
Core storage facility at the the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources in Daejeon, South Korea
Gas hydrate from offshore Korea courtesy of the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. Learn more about gas hydrates at https://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/hydrates/
Gas hydrate from offshore Korea courtesy of the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. Learn more about gas hydrates at https://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/hydrates/
Tim Collett, research geologist in gas hydrates, is chief for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Energy Resources Program gas hydrate research efforts offering a presentation on unconventional oil and gas resources at KIGAM, the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources in Daejeon, South Korea
Tim Collett, research geologist in gas hydrates, is chief for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Energy Resources Program gas hydrate research efforts offering a presentation on unconventional oil and gas resources at KIGAM, the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources in Daejeon, South Korea
Seth Haines, USGS research geophysicist, on a Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources laboratory tour, which included stops at their gas hydrate and sediment pressure chamber - it's a whopping 320 gallons, dwarfing even Seth, a 6-footer. The chamber is the silvery ring and the black cylinder beneath it. It's so big and heavy
Seth Haines, USGS research geophysicist, on a Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources laboratory tour, which included stops at their gas hydrate and sediment pressure chamber - it's a whopping 320 gallons, dwarfing even Seth, a 6-footer. The chamber is the silvery ring and the black cylinder beneath it. It's so big and heavy
(Top) Methane plumes at the Norfolk Canyon seeps (~1600 meters or 5250 feet) were detected using the EK60 sonar. The water column plumes are shown above the sub-seafloor structure as imaged by high-resolution multichannel seismic data acquired by the USGS and processed by J. Kluesner.
(Top) Methane plumes at the Norfolk Canyon seeps (~1600 meters or 5250 feet) were detected using the EK60 sonar. The water column plumes are shown above the sub-seafloor structure as imaged by high-resolution multichannel seismic data acquired by the USGS and processed by J. Kluesner.
Methane plume imaged by the 30 kHz multibeam system
Methane plume imaged by the 30 kHz multibeam system
Methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) rocks on the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin
Methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) rocks on the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin
Authigenic carbonate supplies the foundation for deep-sea corals, including colonies of bubblegum corals (Paragorgia) seen here.
Authigenic carbonate supplies the foundation for deep-sea corals, including colonies of bubblegum corals (Paragorgia) seen here.
Map of the general expedition area on the northern U.S. Atlantic Margin between Baltimore Canyon and Cape Hatteras
Map of the general expedition area on the northern U.S. Atlantic Margin between Baltimore Canyon and Cape Hatteras
USGS scientists collect sediment samples in a gas hydrates area during a cruise on the U.S. Atlantic margin in 2015.
USGS scientists collect sediment samples in a gas hydrates area during a cruise on the U.S. Atlantic margin in 2015.
Bottom simulating reflector imaged in 2014 by the USGS along a seismic line acquired south of Hudson Canyon during the Extended Continental Shelf cruise. Image provided by D. Hutchinson and reproduced from USGS Fact Sheet 3080.
Bottom simulating reflector imaged in 2014 by the USGS along a seismic line acquired south of Hudson Canyon during the Extended Continental Shelf cruise. Image provided by D. Hutchinson and reproduced from USGS Fact Sheet 3080.
Timeline of past drilling activities conducted by countries, private sector firms, government agencies, and academe that have helped to refine global gas hydrate estimates and possible future drilling and production testing
Timeline of past drilling activities conducted by countries, private sector firms, government agencies, and academe that have helped to refine global gas hydrate estimates and possible future drilling and production testing
Schematic showing the general setting of seeps on the US Atlantic margin and related processes, such as gas hydrate degradation, groundwater seepage, leakage through fractured rocks, or emissions from the seafloor overlying salt diapirs. Pockmarks shown in white, and the nominal updip limit of gas hydrate stability is represented by the dashed black line.
Schematic showing the general setting of seeps on the US Atlantic margin and related processes, such as gas hydrate degradation, groundwater seepage, leakage through fractured rocks, or emissions from the seafloor overlying salt diapirs. Pockmarks shown in white, and the nominal updip limit of gas hydrate stability is represented by the dashed black line.
Publications associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Gas Hydrates on Alaskan Marine Margins
Gas hydrate distributions on the marine margins of the U.S. state of Alaska are more poorly known than those on other U.S. margins, where bottom simulating reflections have been systematically mapped on marine seismic data to support modern, quantitative assessments of gas-in-place in gas hydrates.
Categorizing active marine acoustic sources based on their potential to affect marine animals
Diatom influence on the production characteristics of hydrate-bearing sediments: Examples from Ulleung Basin, offshore South Korea
Comprehensive pressure core analysis for hydrate-bearing sediments from Gulf of Mexico Green Canyon Block 955, including assessments of geomechanical viscous behavior and nuclear magnetic resonance permeability
Integrated geochemical approach to determine the source of methane in gas hydrate from Green Canyon Block 955 in the Gulf of Mexico
Permeability of methane hydrate-bearing sandy silts in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico (Green Canyon Block 955)
Compression behavior of hydrate-bearing sediments
Barkley Canyon gas hydrates: A synthesis based on two decades of seafloor observation and remote sensing
Comparison of sediment composition by smear slides to quantitative shipboard data: A case study on the utility of smear slide percent estimates, IODP Expedition 353, northern Indian Ocean
Primary deposition and early diagenetic effects on the high saturation accumulation of gas hydrate in a silt dominated reservoir in the Gulf of Mexico
U.S. Atlantic margin gas hydrates
Gas hydrates on Alaskan marine margins
Contribution of deep-sourced carbon from hydrocarbon seeps to sedimentary organic carbon: Evidence from radiocarbon and stable isotope geochemistry
Geonarratives associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Gas Hydrate in Nature
This geonarrative combines the text and imagery of USGS Fact Sheet 3080 with additional supporting imagery. Except for headings used to organize the text in the geonarrative and an updated name for the coastal and marine program at the USGS, the text is exactly the same as USGS Fact Sheet 3080, with an updated timeline diagram.
USGS Gas Hydrates Project
This geonarrative combines the text and imagery of USGS Fact Sheet 3079 with additional supporting imagery. Except for (a) headings used to organize the text in the geonarrative, (b) an additional reference to support an image included in the geonarrative, and (c) the updated program name for the coastal and marine component of the USGS, the text is the same as that of USGS Fact Sheet 3079.
News stories associated with the Gas Hydrates project.
USGS scientists contribute to new gas hydrates monograph
The recently-published monograph entitled World Atlas of Submarine Gas Hydrates on Continental Margins compiles findings about gas hydrates offshore all of Earth’s continents and also onshore in selected permafrost regions.
Gas Hydrates FAQs
What are gas hydrates?
Gas hydrates are a crystalline solid formed of water and gas. It looks and acts much like ice, but it contains huge amounts of methane; it is known to occur on every continent; and it exists in huge quantities in marine sediments in a layer several hundred meters thick directly below the sea floor and in association with permafrost in the Arctic. It is not stable at normal sea-level pressures and...
Where are gas hydrates found?
Gas hydrates are 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 them stable.
How are gas hydrates studied?
Gas hydrates 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. Learn more: USGS Gas Hydrates Lab
Who studies gas hydrates?
Currently, groups of scientists in the U.S., Canada, Norway, Great Britain, and Japan are working to try to understand gas hydrates and the role it plays in the global climate and the future of fuels. The USGS Gas Hydrates Project focuses on the study of natural gas hydrates in deepwater marine systems and permafrost areas. The primary goals are: Evaluate methane hydrates as a potential energy...
Gas Hydrates Project Partners
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project has been making contributions to advance understanding of US and international gas hydrates science for at least three decades. The research group working on gas hydrates at the USGS is among the largest in the US and has expertise in all the major geoscience disciplines, as well as in the physics and chemistry of gas hydrates, the geotechnical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments, and the biogeochemistry of marine and permafrost gas hydrate systems. The group includes field-based scientists, numerical modelers, laboratory scientists, and supporting technical personnel for marine, permafrost, and laboratory operations. Much of the research is carried out in collaboration with other federal agencies (especially the U.S. Department of Energy) or academic partners, and there are frequently opportunities to collaborate on international programs that jointly serve the Project's mission and the goals of the international partners.
Gas Hydrates Research
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project focuses on the study of natural gas hydrates in deepwater marine systems and permafrost areas.
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project focuses on the study of natural gas hydrates in deepwater marine systems and permafrost areas. The primary goals are:
- Evaluate methane hydrates as a potential energy source
- Investigate the interaction between methane hydrate destabilization and climate change at short and long time scales
- Study the spatial and temporal connections between submarine slope failures and gas hydrate dynamics
The Gas Hydrate Project conducts multidisciplinary field studies, participates in national and international deep drilling expeditions, and maintains several laboratories focused on hydrate-bearing sediments.
Scientific research associated with the Gas Hydrates Project.
The Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment (MATRIX)
Delineating the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf
USGS Law of the Sea
IMMeRSS-- Interagency Mission for Methane Research on Seafloor Seeps
Gas Hydrates- Atlantic Margin Methane Seeps
Gas Hydrates- Submarine Slope Destabilization
Environmental Compliance
Gas Hydrates- Climate and Hydrate Interactions
Gas Hydrates- Energy
Gas Hydrates - Primer
Data Releases associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Dataset of diatom controls on the compressibility and permeability of fine-grained sediment collected offshore of South Korea during the Second Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrate Expedition, UBGH2
Dataset of diatom controls on the sedimentation behavior of fine-grained sediment collected offshore of South Korea during the Second Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrate Expedition, UBGH2
Water column physical and chemical properties of Cenote Bang, a component of the Ox Bel Ha cave network within the subterranean estuary coastal aquifer of the Yucatan Peninsula, from December 2013 to January 2016
Comparison of methane concentration and stable carbon isotope data for natural samples analyzed by discrete sample introduction module - cavity ring down spectroscopy (DSIM-CRDS) and traditional methods
Split-beam Echo Sounder and Navigation Data Collected Using a Simrad EK80 Wide Band Tranceiver and ES38-10 Transducer During the Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment (MATRIX), USGS Field Activity 2018-002-FA.
Multichannel Seismic-Reflection and Navigation Data Collected Using Sercel GI Guns and Geometrics GeoEel Digital Streamers During the Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment (MATRIX), USGS Field Activity 2018-002-FA
Dependence of sedimentation behavior on pore-fluid chemistry for sediment collected offshore South Korea during the Second Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrate Expedition, UBGH2
Marine Geophysical Data Collected to Support Methane Seep Research Along the U.S. Atlantic Continental Shelf Break and Upper Continental Slope Between the Baltimore and Keller Canyons During U.S. Geological Survey Field Activities 2017-001-FA and 2017-002
Thermal Data and Navigation for T-3 (Fletcher's) Ice Island Arctic Ocean Heat Flow Studies, 1963-73 (ver. 1.1 December 2022)
Post-expedition report for USGS T-3 Ice Island heat flow measurements in the High Arctic Ocean, 1963-1973
Pressure Core Characterization Tool Measurements of Compressibility, Permeability, and Shear Strength of Fine-Grained Sediment Collected from Area C, Krishna-Godavari Basin, during India's National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition NGHP-02
Two-dimensional micromodel study of pore-throat clogging by pure fine-grained sediments and natural sediments from the 2015 National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 2 (NGHP-02), offshore India
Mulitmedia items associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Robert Scharping, a post-doctoral fellow jointly appointed by the USGS and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) measures water chemistry 40’ underwater and underground in Double Keyhole Cave near the coastline of Tampa Bay Florida.
Robert Scharping, a post-doctoral fellow jointly appointed by the USGS and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) measures water chemistry 40’ underwater and underground in Double Keyhole Cave near the coastline of Tampa Bay Florida.
Atlantic spotted dolphins photographed near the R/V Hugh R. Sharp on August 27, 2018 by the protected species visual observers.
Atlantic spotted dolphins photographed near the R/V Hugh R. Sharp on August 27, 2018 by the protected species visual observers.
Four diesel-powered compressors chained to the deck of the R/V Hugh R. Sharp provided the air to power the seismic sources during the MATRIX cruise.
Four diesel-powered compressors chained to the deck of the R/V Hugh R. Sharp provided the air to power the seismic sources during the MATRIX cruise.
Jenny White McKee and Pete Dal Ferro of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center retrieve two airguns during the 2018 MATRIX cruise aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp. The seismic streamer is visible on the winch in the foreground.
Jenny White McKee and Pete Dal Ferro of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center retrieve two airguns during the 2018 MATRIX cruise aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp. The seismic streamer is visible on the winch in the foreground.
Engineering technician Jenny McKee from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California watches as an expendable sonobuoy leaves the launcher during the 2018 MATRIX cruise on research vessel Hugh R.
Engineering technician Jenny McKee from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California watches as an expendable sonobuoy leaves the launcher during the 2018 MATRIX cruise on research vessel Hugh R.
USGS personnel configuring and deploying the streamer of hydrophone receivers on the R/V Hugh R. Sharp during the MATRIX cruise. In foreground from left to right are Nathan Miller, Wayne Baldwin, and Eric Moore from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.
USGS personnel configuring and deploying the streamer of hydrophone receivers on the R/V Hugh R. Sharp during the MATRIX cruise. In foreground from left to right are Nathan Miller, Wayne Baldwin, and Eric Moore from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.
Tim Collett, USGS research geologist, presenting at the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources' (KIGAM) international program for geoscience resources.
Tim Collett, USGS research geologist, presenting at the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources' (KIGAM) international program for geoscience resources.
USGS scientists, Bill Waite, Tim Collett, and Seth Haines in front of a archway in Daejeon, South Korea
USGS scientists, Bill Waite, Tim Collett, and Seth Haines in front of a archway in Daejeon, South Korea
Core storage facility at the the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources in Daejeon, South Korea
Core storage facility at the the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources in Daejeon, South Korea
Gas hydrate from offshore Korea courtesy of the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. Learn more about gas hydrates at https://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/hydrates/
Gas hydrate from offshore Korea courtesy of the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. Learn more about gas hydrates at https://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/hydrates/
Tim Collett, research geologist in gas hydrates, is chief for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Energy Resources Program gas hydrate research efforts offering a presentation on unconventional oil and gas resources at KIGAM, the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources in Daejeon, South Korea
Tim Collett, research geologist in gas hydrates, is chief for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Energy Resources Program gas hydrate research efforts offering a presentation on unconventional oil and gas resources at KIGAM, the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources in Daejeon, South Korea
Seth Haines, USGS research geophysicist, on a Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources laboratory tour, which included stops at their gas hydrate and sediment pressure chamber - it's a whopping 320 gallons, dwarfing even Seth, a 6-footer. The chamber is the silvery ring and the black cylinder beneath it. It's so big and heavy
Seth Haines, USGS research geophysicist, on a Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources laboratory tour, which included stops at their gas hydrate and sediment pressure chamber - it's a whopping 320 gallons, dwarfing even Seth, a 6-footer. The chamber is the silvery ring and the black cylinder beneath it. It's so big and heavy
(Top) Methane plumes at the Norfolk Canyon seeps (~1600 meters or 5250 feet) were detected using the EK60 sonar. The water column plumes are shown above the sub-seafloor structure as imaged by high-resolution multichannel seismic data acquired by the USGS and processed by J. Kluesner.
(Top) Methane plumes at the Norfolk Canyon seeps (~1600 meters or 5250 feet) were detected using the EK60 sonar. The water column plumes are shown above the sub-seafloor structure as imaged by high-resolution multichannel seismic data acquired by the USGS and processed by J. Kluesner.
Methane plume imaged by the 30 kHz multibeam system
Methane plume imaged by the 30 kHz multibeam system
Methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) rocks on the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin
Methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) rocks on the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin
Authigenic carbonate supplies the foundation for deep-sea corals, including colonies of bubblegum corals (Paragorgia) seen here.
Authigenic carbonate supplies the foundation for deep-sea corals, including colonies of bubblegum corals (Paragorgia) seen here.
Map of the general expedition area on the northern U.S. Atlantic Margin between Baltimore Canyon and Cape Hatteras
Map of the general expedition area on the northern U.S. Atlantic Margin between Baltimore Canyon and Cape Hatteras
USGS scientists collect sediment samples in a gas hydrates area during a cruise on the U.S. Atlantic margin in 2015.
USGS scientists collect sediment samples in a gas hydrates area during a cruise on the U.S. Atlantic margin in 2015.
Bottom simulating reflector imaged in 2014 by the USGS along a seismic line acquired south of Hudson Canyon during the Extended Continental Shelf cruise. Image provided by D. Hutchinson and reproduced from USGS Fact Sheet 3080.
Bottom simulating reflector imaged in 2014 by the USGS along a seismic line acquired south of Hudson Canyon during the Extended Continental Shelf cruise. Image provided by D. Hutchinson and reproduced from USGS Fact Sheet 3080.
Timeline of past drilling activities conducted by countries, private sector firms, government agencies, and academe that have helped to refine global gas hydrate estimates and possible future drilling and production testing
Timeline of past drilling activities conducted by countries, private sector firms, government agencies, and academe that have helped to refine global gas hydrate estimates and possible future drilling and production testing
Schematic showing the general setting of seeps on the US Atlantic margin and related processes, such as gas hydrate degradation, groundwater seepage, leakage through fractured rocks, or emissions from the seafloor overlying salt diapirs. Pockmarks shown in white, and the nominal updip limit of gas hydrate stability is represented by the dashed black line.
Schematic showing the general setting of seeps on the US Atlantic margin and related processes, such as gas hydrate degradation, groundwater seepage, leakage through fractured rocks, or emissions from the seafloor overlying salt diapirs. Pockmarks shown in white, and the nominal updip limit of gas hydrate stability is represented by the dashed black line.
Publications associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Gas Hydrates on Alaskan Marine Margins
Gas hydrate distributions on the marine margins of the U.S. state of Alaska are more poorly known than those on other U.S. margins, where bottom simulating reflections have been systematically mapped on marine seismic data to support modern, quantitative assessments of gas-in-place in gas hydrates.
Categorizing active marine acoustic sources based on their potential to affect marine animals
Diatom influence on the production characteristics of hydrate-bearing sediments: Examples from Ulleung Basin, offshore South Korea
Comprehensive pressure core analysis for hydrate-bearing sediments from Gulf of Mexico Green Canyon Block 955, including assessments of geomechanical viscous behavior and nuclear magnetic resonance permeability
Integrated geochemical approach to determine the source of methane in gas hydrate from Green Canyon Block 955 in the Gulf of Mexico
Permeability of methane hydrate-bearing sandy silts in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico (Green Canyon Block 955)
Compression behavior of hydrate-bearing sediments
Barkley Canyon gas hydrates: A synthesis based on two decades of seafloor observation and remote sensing
Comparison of sediment composition by smear slides to quantitative shipboard data: A case study on the utility of smear slide percent estimates, IODP Expedition 353, northern Indian Ocean
Primary deposition and early diagenetic effects on the high saturation accumulation of gas hydrate in a silt dominated reservoir in the Gulf of Mexico
U.S. Atlantic margin gas hydrates
Gas hydrates on Alaskan marine margins
Contribution of deep-sourced carbon from hydrocarbon seeps to sedimentary organic carbon: Evidence from radiocarbon and stable isotope geochemistry
Geonarratives associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Gas Hydrate in Nature
This geonarrative combines the text and imagery of USGS Fact Sheet 3080 with additional supporting imagery. Except for headings used to organize the text in the geonarrative and an updated name for the coastal and marine program at the USGS, the text is exactly the same as USGS Fact Sheet 3080, with an updated timeline diagram.
USGS Gas Hydrates Project
This geonarrative combines the text and imagery of USGS Fact Sheet 3079 with additional supporting imagery. Except for (a) headings used to organize the text in the geonarrative, (b) an additional reference to support an image included in the geonarrative, and (c) the updated program name for the coastal and marine component of the USGS, the text is the same as that of USGS Fact Sheet 3079.
News stories associated with the Gas Hydrates project.
USGS scientists contribute to new gas hydrates monograph
The recently-published monograph entitled World Atlas of Submarine Gas Hydrates on Continental Margins compiles findings about gas hydrates offshore all of Earth’s continents and also onshore in selected permafrost regions.
Gas Hydrates FAQs
What are gas hydrates?
Gas hydrates are a crystalline solid formed of water and gas. It looks and acts much like ice, but it contains huge amounts of methane; it is known to occur on every continent; and it exists in huge quantities in marine sediments in a layer several hundred meters thick directly below the sea floor and in association with permafrost in the Arctic. It is not stable at normal sea-level pressures and...
Where are gas hydrates found?
Gas hydrates are 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 them stable.
How are gas hydrates studied?
Gas hydrates 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. Learn more: USGS Gas Hydrates Lab
Who studies gas hydrates?
Currently, groups of scientists in the U.S., Canada, Norway, Great Britain, and Japan are working to try to understand gas hydrates and the role it plays in the global climate and the future of fuels. The USGS Gas Hydrates Project focuses on the study of natural gas hydrates in deepwater marine systems and permafrost areas. The primary goals are: Evaluate methane hydrates as a potential energy...
Gas Hydrates Project Partners