Tréhu, A.M., C. Ruppel, M. Holland, G.R. Dickens, M.E. Torres, T.S. Collett, D. Goldberg, M. Riedel, and P. Schultheiss. 2006. Gas hydrates in marine sediments: Lessons from scientific ocean drilling. Oceanography 19(4):124–142, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2006.11.
Carolyn Ruppel, PhD
I lead the USGS Gas Hydrates Project, which is jointly funded by the Coastal-Marine Hazards and Resources Program and the Energy Resources Program. Project scientists in Woods Hole, Denver, Menlo Park, and Santa Cruz study natural methane hydrate. Hydrate is a potential energy resource, has synergies with global climate, and may play a role in some marine geohazards.
Biography
My primary research focus is on the interaction between methane hydrates (and methane seeps) on one hand and the ocean-atmosphere system on the other. I focus particularly on the US Atlantic and US Pacific margins, as well as Arctic Ocean margins (US Beaufort Sea and Svalbard). I also work on energy issues related to gas hydrates (including delineating their distribution in marine sediments; 2018 MATRIX seismic program on US Atlantic margin), the coexistence of permafrost (including subsea) and hydrates (Beaufort Sea), and reservoir properties of hydrate-bearing sediments. As a side specialty, I assist with programmatic environmental compliance for USGS marine acoustics surveys. During my career, I have also worked on marine heat flow data acquisition and analysis, other aspects of the hydrogeology of gas hydrate systems, and coastal zone hydrogeophysics (particularly tidal pumping, inductive EM data, and saline intrusion in surficial aquifers). My earliest work focused on numerical modeling of large scale tectonic processes and associated particle tracking, continental rifting, and marine analogs for continental tectonic processes. Google scholar page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=FIhPCKcAAAAJ
EDUCATION
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D., 1992, Geophysics and Geology (with Marcia McNutt)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.S., 1986, Earth sciences (with Leigh Royden and Kip Hodges)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S., 1986, Earth sciences
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2010-present: Chief, USGS Gas Hydrates Project
2006-present: Research Geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey
2006- present: Visiting Scientist, MIT, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences
2003-2006: Program manager (faculty rotater), National Science Foundation, Ocean Sciences (MG&G and Ocean Drilling Program)
2000-2002: Coordinator, Georgia Tech Focused Research Program on Methane Hydrates
2000-2006: Associate Professor of Geophysics (tenured), Georgia Institute of Technology
1994-2000: Assistant Professor of Geophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology
1993: Postdoctoral Investigator, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (advisor: Von Herzen)
1992: Postdoctoral Scholar, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (advisors: Lin, Von Herzen)
PUBLICATIONS BY RESEARCH TYPE
- Arctic Methane Dynamics
- U.S. Atlantic Margin Gas Hydrates and Methane Seeps
- Natural Gas Hydrates - Processes and Properties
SELECTED ACTIVITIES
Writing Team, OSTP group for Section 4 of the Presidential Memorandum on Marine Mapping, 2019-2020
Member, Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating Committee (UNOLS), 2015-2020 (ex officio: 2020 - present)
Chief Scientist, 8 research cruises (3 Arctic), 2010-2019
Member, Advisory Board, University of Tromso, Centre of Excellence for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE) 2014-present
Strategic Plan Committee, Coastal & Marine Geology Program, USGS, 2014-2019
Arctic subgroup (appointed CMGP representative), Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST), OSTP, 2015-16
Mentor, Graduate Women at MIT (GWAMIT), 2013-2016
USGS Technical lead, NSF-USGS Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Marine Seismics, 2008-2012
Lead proponent, IODP Pre-Proposal 797, Late Pleistocene to contemporary climate change on the Alaskan Beaufort Margin (ABM)
Lead organizer, Catching climate change in progress, circum-Arctic Ocean drilling workshop, December 2011 (sponsored by US Science Support Program for IODP)
Organizer and convener, USGS-DOE Climate-Hydrates workshop, Boston, MA, March 2011
Originator and Chair, Gordon Research Conference on Natural Gas Hydrates, inaugural conference held June 2010.
Interagency Technical Coordinating Committee, DOE Methane Hydrates R&D Program, 2010-present
The Future of Natural Gas, MIT Energy Initiative, affiliated author (methane hydrates), 2008-2011
National Research Council, Scientific Ocean Drilling (SOD) review, presentation on Gas Hydrates and SOD, 2010
IODP Operations Task Force, 2008-2009
IODP Science Planning Committee (SPC), 2006-2009
Organizer, DOE-USGS Symposium/Meeting on Gas Hydrates and Climate Change (held at MIT), February 2008
Organizing Committee, NSF-sponsored workshop--The Future of Marine Heat Flow: A Workshop to Define U.S. Scientific Goals and Experimental Needs for the 21st Century, Sept. 2007
USGS representative to WHOI Postdoctoral Scholar Committee, 2007
DOE Federal Advisory Board for Methane Hydrates (FACA committee), 2001-2003
ODP U.S. Science Advisory Committee (USSAC), 2000-2003
AGU Publications Committee, 2002-2003
NSF Methane in Earth Systems History (MESH) program planning panel, 2002
NSF Ocean Carbon Cycle Panel(program planning), 2001-2002
ODP Hydrogeology Proposal Planning Group (PPG), liaison on gas hydrates, 2001-2002
ODP Gas Hydrates Proposal Planning Group (PPG), liaison from SSEP, 1998-99
ODP Science Steering and Evaluation Panel (SSEP Earth's Interior), 1997-1999
AGU Information Technology Committee, 1996-1998
AGU Spring Meeting Organizing Committee, Tectonophysics Section Chair, 1999
Co-organizer of AGU special sessions on gas hydrates: 1999, 2001, 2005 (Union)
Co-organizer of AGU special sessions on coastal hydrogeophysics: 1999, 2001, 2005
AGU Translations Board, 1994-1996
EDITORIAL ASSIGNMENTS
Co-Guest Associate Editor, Special Issue on the Reservoir Properties of Hydrate-Bearing Sediments, Journal of Geophysical Research, 2017-2019
Co-Editor, Special Volume on Nankai Gas Hydrates Drilling, Journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology, 2014-2015
Expert Reviewer, UN Environmental Programme report on methane hydrates, Volume 1, 2013-14
Lead editor, special volume, Marine & Petroleum Geology, DOE-JIP Gulf of Mexico gas hydrates drilling, 2006-2008
Hydrogeology Journal, editorial board, 2005-2007
Geology, editorial board, 2000-2003
Tectonics, Associate Editor, 1996-1999
Fiziki Zemli, oversight responsibility for AGU publication in translation, 1994-1996
AWARDS AND HONORS
National Science Foundation, Director's Award for Program Management, 2005 (Chixulub seismic program)
JOI/USSAC Distinguished Lecturer, Ocean Drilling Program, 1999-2000
Elected Geological Society of America (GSA) Fellow, 1999
Class of 1969 Teaching Fellow, Georgia Tech, 1994-1995
Postdoctoral scholar, WHOI, Geology & Geophysics, 1992
Science and Products
Year Published: 2007
Triggering mechanism and tsunamogenic potential of the Cape Fear Slide complex, U.S. Atlantic margin
Analysis of new multibeam bathymetry data and seismic Chirp data acquired over the Cape Fear Slide complex on the U.S. Atlantic margin suggests that at least 5 major submarine slides have likely occurred there within the past 30,000 years, indicating that repetitive, large-scale mass wasting and associated tsunamis may be more common in this area...
Hornbach, Matthew J.; Lavier, Luc L.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.Attribution: Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian
View Citation
Triggering mechanism and tsunamogenic potential of the Cape Fear Slide complex, U.S. Atlantic margin; 2007; Article; Journal; Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems; Hornbach, Matthew J.; Lavier, Luc L.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.
Year Published: 2007
Integrating hydrologic and geophysical data to constrain coastal surficial aquifer processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales
Since 1997, repeated, coincident geophysical surveys and extensive hydrologic studies in shallow monitoring wells have been used to study static and dynamic processes associated with surface water-groundwater interaction at a range of spatial scales at the estuarine and ocean boundaries of an undeveloped, permeable barrier island in the Georgia...
Hyndman, David W.; Day-Lewis, Frederick D.; Singha, Kamini; Schultz, Gregory M.; Ruppel, Carolyn; Fulton, PatrickAttribution: Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian
View Citation
Integrating hydrologic and geophysical data to constrain coastal surficial aquifer processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales; 2007; Book chapter; Book; Subsurface hydrology: data integration for properties and processes; Schultz, Gregory M.; Ruppel, Carolyn; Fulton, Patrick
Year Published: 2007
Characteristics of vesicomyid clams and their environment at the Blake Ridge cold seep, South Carolina, USA
Spatial distributions and patchiness of dominant megafaunal invertebrates in deep-sea seep environments may indicate heterogeneities in the flux of reduced chemical compounds. At the Blake Ridge seep off South Carolina, USA, the invertebrate assemblage includes dense populations of live vesicomyid clams (an undescribed species) as well as...
Heyl, Taylor P.; Gilhooly, William P.; Chambers, Randolph M.; Gilchrist, George W.; Macko, Stephen A.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Van Dover, Cindy L.View Citation
Characteristics of vesicomyid clams and their environment at the Blake Ridge cold seep, South Carolina, USA; 2007; Article; Journal; Marine Ecology Progress Series; Heyl, Taylor P.; Gilhooly, William P.; Chambers, Randolph M.; Gilchrist, George W.; Macko, Stephen A.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Van Dover, Cindy L.
Year Published: 2007
Mechanical properties of sand, silt, and clay containing tetrahydrofuran hydrate
The mechanical behavior of hydrate-bearing sediments subjected to large strains has relevance for the stability of the seafloor and submarine slopes, drilling and coring operations, and the analysis of certain small-strain properties of these sediments (for example, seismic velocities). This study reports on the results of comprehensive axial...
Yun, T.S.; Santamarina, J.C.; Ruppel, C.Attribution: Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian
View Citation
Mechanical properties of sand, silt, and clay containing tetrahydrofuran hydrate; 2007; Article; Journal; Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth; Yun, T. S.; Santamarina, C. J.; Ruppel, C.
Year Published: 2007
Salt tectonics and shallow subseafloor fluid convection: Models of coupled fluid-heat-salt transport
Thermohaline convection associated with salt domes has the potential to drive significant fluid flow and mass and heat transport in continental margins, but previous studies of fluid flow associated with salt structures have focused on continental settings or deep flow systems of importance to petroleum exploration. Motivated by recent geophysical...
Wilson, A.; Ruppel, C.Attribution: Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian
View Citation
Salt tectonics and shallow subseafloor fluid convection: models of coupled fluid-heat-salt transport; 2007; Article; Journal; Geofluids; Wilson, A.; Ruppel, C.
Year Published: 2007
Three-dimensional structure of fluid conduits sustaining an active deep marine cold seep
Cold seeps in deep marine settings emit fluids to the overlying ocean and are often associated with such seafloor flux indicators as chemosynthetic biota, pockmarks, and authigenic carbonate rocks. Despite evidence for spatiotemporal variability in the rate, locus, and composition of cold seep fluid emissions, the shallow subseafloor plumbing...
Hornbach, M.J.; Ruppel, C.; Van Dover, C.L.Attribution: Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian
View Citation
Three-dimensional structure of fluid conduits sustaining an active deep marine cold seep; 2007; Article; Journal; Geophysical Research Letters; Hornbach, M. J.; Ruppel, C.; Van Dover, C. L.
Year Published: 2006
Comment on "Thermal and visual time-series at a seafloor gas hydrate deposit on the Gulf of Mexico slope," by I.R. MacDonald, L.C. Bender, M. Vardaro, B. Bernard, and J.M. Brooks[Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 233 (2005) 49-59]
[No abstract available]
Waite, W.F.; Ruppel, C.D.; Kirby, S. H.View Citation
Comment on "Thermal and visual time-series at a seafloor gas hydrate deposit on the Gulf of Mexico slope," by I.R. MacDonald, L.C. Bender, M. Vardaro, B. Bernard, and J.M. Brooks[Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 233 (2005) 49-59]; 2006; Article; Journal; Earth and Planetary Science Letters; Waite, W. F.; Ruppel, C. D.; Kirby, S. H.
Pre-USGS Publications
Nimblett, J. and C. Ruppel, 2003, Permeability evolution during formation of gas hydrates in marine sediments, Journal of Geophysical Research, 108, 2420, doi: 10.1029/2001JB001650.
Ruppel, C., Thermal state of the gas hydrate reservoir, 2000, in: Max, M. editor, Natural Gas Hydrate in Oceanic and Permafrost Environments, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 29-42, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4387-5_4
Nimblett, J. and C. Ruppel, 2003, Permeability evolution during formation of gas hydrates in marine sediments, Journal of Geophysical Research, 108, 2420, doi: 10.1029/2001JB001650.
Ruppel, C., 1997, Anomalously cold temperatures observed at the base of the gas hydrate stability zone, U.S. Atlantic passive margin, Geology, 25, 699-702. Doi: 10.1130/0091-7613(1997)025<0699:ACTOAT>2.3.CO;2
Wood, W.T., and Ruppel, C., 2000. Seismic and thermal investigations of the Blake Ridge gas hydrate area: a synthesis. In Paull, C.K., Matsumoto, R., Wallace, P.J., and Dillon, W.P. (Eds.), Proc. ODP, Sci. Results, 164: College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program), 253–264. doi:10.2973/odp.proc.sr.164.203.2000
Xu, W. and C. Ruppel, 1999, Predicting the occurrence, distribution, and evolution of methane gas hydrate in porous marine sediments from analytical models, Journal of Geophysical Research, 104, ,5081-5096. 10.1029/1998JB900092
Paull, C.K., Matsumoto, R., Wallace, P.J., et al., 1996. Proc. ODP, Init. Repts., 164: College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program). doi:10.2973/odp.proc.ir.164.1996
Ruppel, C., R.P. Von Herzen, and A. Bonneville, 1995, Heat flux through an old (~175 Ma) passive margin: offshore southeastern USA, Journal of Geophysical Research, 100,20,037-20,058. Doi: 10.1029/95JB01860
Santamarina, J.C. and C. Ruppel, 2010, The impact of hydrate saturation on the mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of hydrate-bearing sand, silts, and clay (Chapter 26), In: Riedel, Willoughby, Chopra (eds), Geophysical Characterization of Gas Hydrates, Society of Exploration Geophysicists Geophysical Developments, vol. 14, 373-384
Trehu, A.M., C. Ruppel, J. Dickens, D. Goldberg, M. Holland, M. Riedel, P. Schultheiss, and M. Torres, 2006, Gas hydrates in marine sediments: lessons from ocean drilling, Oceanography, 19, 124-143, 2006.
Yun, T.S., G. Narsilio, J.C. Santamarina, and C. Ruppel, 2006, Instrumented pressure testing chamber for characterizing sediment cores recovered at in situ hydrostatic pressure, Marine Geology, 229, 285-293. doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2006.03.012.
Yun, T.S., F. Francisca, J.C. Santamarina, and C. Ruppel, 2005, Compressional and shear wave velocities of uncemented sediment containing gas hydrate, Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L10609. doi: 10.1029/2005GL022607.
Nimblett, J. and C. Ruppel, 2003, Permeability evolution during formation of gas hydrates in marine sediments, Journal of Geophysical Research, 108, 2420, doi: 10.1029/2001JB001650.
Waite, W.F, deMartin, B.J, Kirby, S.H., Pinkston, J., Ruppel, C.D., 2002, Thermal conductivity measurements in porous mixtures of methane hydrate and quartz sand, Geophysical Research Letters. doi: 10.1029/2002GL015988
Ruppel C. (2000) Thermal State of the Gas Hydrate Reservoir. In: Max M.D. (eds) Natural Gas Hydrate. Coastal Systems and Continental Margins, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4387-5_4
Xu, W. and C. Ruppel, 1999, Predicting the occurrence, distribution, and evolution of methane gas hydrate in porous marine sediments from analytical models, Journal of Geophysical Research, 104, ,5081-5096