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USGS scientists looking at Eocene sandstones and limestones in Wadi Degla, northern Egypt. This area was studied to understand the Levant Basin Province, as both regions have similar rock formations.

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. Front to back: Masato Kida (AIST), Yoshihiro Konno (AIST), William Waite (USGS), Jiro Nagao (AIST), and Yusuke Jin (AIST), analyze test results from pressurized hydrate-bearing sediment cores.

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: David Mason (USGS), Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Tech), and Yoshihiro Konno (AIST).

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: Emile Bergeron (USGS) and Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Tech) watch the movement of a sediment pressure core on a video screen.

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. This photo shows the pressure core storage chambers, which contain hydrate-bearing sediment samples obtained from the Nankai Trough offshore 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. The cores and pressure vessels are very heavy to move around, so they are using an overhead hoist system with chains to move the devices.

USGS technician Jenny White checks instruments on the research vessel Pelican during a cruise that imaged the Gulf of Mexico seafloor in areas with abundant gas hydrates in April and May 2013.

Researchers set up radar equipment at dusk near Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in east-central Wisconsin.

Wind along the Missouri River kicks up a cloud of dust.

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. The cores and pressure vessels are very heavy to move around, so they are using an overhead hoist system with chains to move the devices.

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. In this photo is Marco Terzariol (Georgia Tech) is preparing a Direct Shear Cell for testing a core section from the manipulator (background), storage chamber, and ball valve system (left).

The USGS's Tom O'Brien, Patrick Hart (who is a co-chief scientist for the cruise) and Jenny White adjust seismic streamers and prepare to collect data on gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico aboard the research vessel Pelican in April to 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.

USGS technician Jenny White and Ray Sliter check instruments on the fantail of the research vessel Pelican during a cruise to explore 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.

USGS technicians Eric Moore, Wayne Baldwin, and Tom O'Brien ready the 72-channel digital streamer for deployment on the research vessel Pelican during a cruise to explore gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.

Seismic equipment is craned off the research vessel Pelican at the dock in Cocodrie, Louisiana after a 15-day expedition to explore gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Two wind turbines in a New York forest. 

Some of the larger wind energy facilities in North America are composed of hundreds of wind turbines dispersed across tens of thousands of acres, like this one in Colorado.

The new solar heating system will reduce the center's carbon footprint by supplementing the current natural gas boiler and reduce energy costs.

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: Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Tech) and David Mason (USGS).