A sample of gas hydrates collected from Mallik, Canada. Gas hydrates are naturally-occurring “ice-like” combinations of natural gas and water that have the potential to provide an immense resource of natural gas from the world’s oceans and polar regions.
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
Related
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.
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...
Mallik Gas Hydrate Sample
A sample of gas hydrates collected from Mallik, Canada. Gas hydrates are naturally-occurring “ice-like” combinations of natural gas and water that have the potential to provide an immense resource of natural gas from the world’s oceans and polar regions.
Sediment Sampling for Gas Hydrate
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.
Gas Hydrate Crystals
Scanning electron microscope image of gas hydrate crystals in a sediment sample. The scale is 50 micrometers (µm) or approximately 0.002 inches
Scanning electron microscope image of gas hydrate crystals in a sediment sample. The scale is 50 micrometers (µm) or approximately 0.002 inches
Gas hydrate at the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin.
Gas hydrate at the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin. The icy deposit formed as gas bubbles emitted from the seafloor transformed into methane hydrate beneath the overhanging rock.
Gas hydrate at the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin. The icy deposit formed as gas bubbles emitted from the seafloor transformed into methane hydrate beneath the overhanging rock.
USGS Gas Hydrates Lab
Gas hydrates are a significant potential energy source occurring in ocean-floor sediments at water depths greater than 500 meters and beneath Arctic permafrost. The USGS operates a gas hydrates laboratory on its Menlo Park campus.
Gas hydrates are a significant potential energy source occurring in ocean-floor sediments at water depths greater than 500 meters and beneath Arctic permafrost. The USGS operates a gas hydrates laboratory on its Menlo Park campus.
Gas Hydrates in Marine Sediments
This image shows gas hydrates (the white material) in marine sediments from a test well drilled in the Indian Ocean in 2006 during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01.
This image shows gas hydrates (the white material) in marine sediments from a test well drilled in the Indian Ocean in 2006 during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01.
Gas Hydrates in Marine Sediments from the Indian Ocean
This image shows gas hydrates (the white material) in marine sediments from a test well drilled in the Indian Ocean in 2006 during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01.
This image shows gas hydrates (the white material) in marine sediments from a test well drilled in the Indian Ocean in 2006 during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01.
Gas Hydrates in Marine Sediments off the Oregon Coast
During Ocean Drilling Program Leg 204, nine sites were cored and wireline logged on the Oregon continental margin to determine the distribution and concentration of gas hydrates in an accretionary ridge setting, investigate the mechanisms that transport methane and other gases into the gas hydrate stability zone, and obtain constraints on physical properties of
During Ocean Drilling Program Leg 204, nine sites were cored and wireline logged on the Oregon continental margin to determine the distribution and concentration of gas hydrates in an accretionary ridge setting, investigate the mechanisms that transport methane and other gases into the gas hydrate stability zone, and obtain constraints on physical properties of
Gas Hydrate Recovered from Gulf of Mexico
Gas hydrate recovered in shallow layers just below the seafloor during piston coring in the Mississippi Canyon in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
For more information, contact USGS civil engineer Bill Winters at: bwinters@usgs.gov
Gas hydrate recovered in shallow layers just below the seafloor during piston coring in the Mississippi Canyon in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
For more information, contact USGS civil engineer Bill Winters at: bwinters@usgs.gov
Gas Hydrates Research Project in Japan
Scientists from AIST, JOGMEC, Georgia Tech, and the USGS prepare to analyze pressure cores as part of a multi-year gas hydrates research project in Japan. Left to right: Efthymios Papadopoulos (Georgia Tech), Yoshihiro Konno (AIST), and William Winters (USGS).
Scientists from AIST, JOGMEC, Georgia Tech, and the USGS prepare to analyze pressure cores as part of a multi-year gas hydrates research project in Japan. Left to right: Efthymios Papadopoulos (Georgia Tech), Yoshihiro Konno (AIST), and William Winters (USGS).
2013 Gas Hydrate Expedition in Gulf of Mexico
USGS technicians Tom O'Brien, Eric Moore, and Wayne Baldwin deploy the seismic streamer aboard the research vessel Pelican to collect data on gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.
USGS technicians Tom O'Brien, Eric Moore, and Wayne Baldwin deploy the seismic streamer aboard the research vessel Pelican to collect data on gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.
2013 Gas Hydrate Expedition in Gulf of Mexico
USGS technician Pete Dal Ferro prepares a generator-injector seismic source aboard the research ship Pelican during a cruise to study gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in April and May 2013.
USGS technician Pete Dal Ferro prepares a generator-injector seismic source aboard the research ship Pelican during a cruise to study gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in April and May 2013.
Related
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.
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...
Mallik Gas Hydrate Sample
A sample of gas hydrates collected from Mallik, Canada. Gas hydrates are naturally-occurring “ice-like” combinations of natural gas and water that have the potential to provide an immense resource of natural gas from the world’s oceans and polar regions.
A sample of gas hydrates collected from Mallik, Canada. Gas hydrates are naturally-occurring “ice-like” combinations of natural gas and water that have the potential to provide an immense resource of natural gas from the world’s oceans and polar regions.
Sediment Sampling for Gas Hydrate
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.
Gas Hydrate Crystals
Scanning electron microscope image of gas hydrate crystals in a sediment sample. The scale is 50 micrometers (µm) or approximately 0.002 inches
Scanning electron microscope image of gas hydrate crystals in a sediment sample. The scale is 50 micrometers (µm) or approximately 0.002 inches
Gas hydrate at the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin.
Gas hydrate at the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin. The icy deposit formed as gas bubbles emitted from the seafloor transformed into methane hydrate beneath the overhanging rock.
Gas hydrate at the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin. The icy deposit formed as gas bubbles emitted from the seafloor transformed into methane hydrate beneath the overhanging rock.
USGS Gas Hydrates Lab
Gas hydrates are a significant potential energy source occurring in ocean-floor sediments at water depths greater than 500 meters and beneath Arctic permafrost. The USGS operates a gas hydrates laboratory on its Menlo Park campus.
Gas hydrates are a significant potential energy source occurring in ocean-floor sediments at water depths greater than 500 meters and beneath Arctic permafrost. The USGS operates a gas hydrates laboratory on its Menlo Park campus.
Gas Hydrates in Marine Sediments
This image shows gas hydrates (the white material) in marine sediments from a test well drilled in the Indian Ocean in 2006 during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01.
This image shows gas hydrates (the white material) in marine sediments from a test well drilled in the Indian Ocean in 2006 during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01.
Gas Hydrates in Marine Sediments from the Indian Ocean
This image shows gas hydrates (the white material) in marine sediments from a test well drilled in the Indian Ocean in 2006 during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01.
This image shows gas hydrates (the white material) in marine sediments from a test well drilled in the Indian Ocean in 2006 during the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01.
Gas Hydrates in Marine Sediments off the Oregon Coast
During Ocean Drilling Program Leg 204, nine sites were cored and wireline logged on the Oregon continental margin to determine the distribution and concentration of gas hydrates in an accretionary ridge setting, investigate the mechanisms that transport methane and other gases into the gas hydrate stability zone, and obtain constraints on physical properties of
During Ocean Drilling Program Leg 204, nine sites were cored and wireline logged on the Oregon continental margin to determine the distribution and concentration of gas hydrates in an accretionary ridge setting, investigate the mechanisms that transport methane and other gases into the gas hydrate stability zone, and obtain constraints on physical properties of
Gas Hydrate Recovered from Gulf of Mexico
Gas hydrate recovered in shallow layers just below the seafloor during piston coring in the Mississippi Canyon in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
For more information, contact USGS civil engineer Bill Winters at: bwinters@usgs.gov
Gas hydrate recovered in shallow layers just below the seafloor during piston coring in the Mississippi Canyon in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
For more information, contact USGS civil engineer Bill Winters at: bwinters@usgs.gov
Gas Hydrates Research Project in Japan
Scientists from AIST, JOGMEC, Georgia Tech, and the USGS prepare to analyze pressure cores as part of a multi-year gas hydrates research project in Japan. Left to right: Efthymios Papadopoulos (Georgia Tech), Yoshihiro Konno (AIST), and William Winters (USGS).
Scientists from AIST, JOGMEC, Georgia Tech, and the USGS prepare to analyze pressure cores as part of a multi-year gas hydrates research project in Japan. Left to right: Efthymios Papadopoulos (Georgia Tech), Yoshihiro Konno (AIST), and William Winters (USGS).
2013 Gas Hydrate Expedition in Gulf of Mexico
USGS technicians Tom O'Brien, Eric Moore, and Wayne Baldwin deploy the seismic streamer aboard the research vessel Pelican to collect data on gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.
USGS technicians Tom O'Brien, Eric Moore, and Wayne Baldwin deploy the seismic streamer aboard the research vessel Pelican to collect data on gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.
2013 Gas Hydrate Expedition in Gulf of Mexico
USGS technician Pete Dal Ferro prepares a generator-injector seismic source aboard the research ship Pelican during a cruise to study gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in April and May 2013.
USGS technician Pete Dal Ferro prepares a generator-injector seismic source aboard the research ship Pelican during a cruise to study gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in April and May 2013.
Updated Date: April 2, 2025