Michael Casso
Science and Products
U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrates Project
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, particularly in the Arctic
- Study the spatial ...
Gas Hydrates- Laboratory and Field Support
The Instrumented Pressure Testing Chamber (IPTC)
A device for measuring the physical properties of naturally-occurring, hydrate-bearing sediment at nearly in situ pressure conditions.
Gas Hydrates - Primer
What is Gas Hydrate?
Gas hydrate is an ice-like crystalline form of water and low molecular weight gas (e.g., methane, ethane, carbon dioxide). On Earth, gas hydrates occur naturally in some marine sediments and within and beneath permafrost. Gas hydrates have also been inferred on other planets or their moons.
At the molecular level, gas hydrate...
Recent sandy deposits at five northern California coastal wetlands—Stratigraphy, diatoms, and implications for storm and tsunami hazards
A recent geological record of inundation by tsunamis or storm surges is evidenced by deposits found within the first few meters of the modern surface at five wetlands on the northern California coast. The study sites include three locations in the Crescent City area (Marhoffer Creek marsh, Elk Creek wetland, and Sand Mine marsh), O’rekw marsh in...
Eileen Hemphill-Haley; Harvey M. Kelsey; Nicholas Graehl; Casso, Michael; Dylan Caldwell; Casey Loofbourrow; Michelle Robinson; Jessica Vermeer; Edward Southwick
Enhanced CO2 uptake at a shallow Arctic Ocean seep field overwhelms the positive warming potential of emitted methane
Continued warming of the Arctic Ocean in coming decades is projected to trigger the release of teragrams (1 Tg = 106 tons) of methane from thawing subsea permafrost on shallow continental shelves and dissociation of methane hydrate on upper continental slopes. On the shallow shelves (<100 m water depth), methane released from the seafloor...
Pohlman, John; Greinert, J.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Silyakova, A; Vielstadte, L; Casso, Michael; Mienert, J; Bunz, S A simple headspace equilibration method for measuring dissolved methane
Dissolved methane concentrations in the ocean are close to equilibrium with the atmosphere. Because methane is only sparingly soluble in seawater, measuring it without contamination is challenging for samples collected and processed in the presence of air. Several methods for analyzing dissolved methane are described in the literature, yet none...
Magen, C; Lapham, L.L.; Pohlman, John W.; Marshall, Kristin N.; Bosman, S.; Casso, Michael; Chanton, J.P.
Review of Oceanographic and Geochemical Data Collected in Massachusetts Bay during a Large Discharge of Total Suspended Solids from Boston's Sewage-Treatment System and Ocean Outfall in August 2002
During the period August 14-23, 2002, the discharge of total suspended solids (TSS) from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority sewage-treatment plant ranged from 32 to 132 milligrams per liter, causing the monthly average discharge to exceed the limit specified in the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. Time-series...
Bothner, Michael H.; Butman, Bradford; Casso, Michael A. Quantity, composition, and source of sediment collected in sediment traps along the fringing coral reef off Molokai, Hawaii
Sediment traps were used to evaluate the frequency, cause, and relative intensity of sediment mobility/resuspension along the fringing coral reef off southern Molokai (February 2000–May 2002). Two storms with high rainfall, floods, and exceptionally high waves resulted in sediment collection rates > 1000 times higher than during non-storm...
Bothner, Michael H.; Reynolds, R.L.; Casso, M.A.; Storlazzi, C.D.; Field, M.E. The effect of the new Massachusetts Bay sewage outfall on the concentrations of metals and bacterial spores in nearby bottom and suspended sediments
Since the new outfall for Boston's treated sewage effluent began operation on September 6, 2000, no change has been observed in concentrations of silver or Clostridium perfringens spores (an ecologically benign tracer of sewage), in bottom sediments at a site 2.5 km west of the outfall. In suspended sediment samples collected with a time-series...
Bothner, Michael H.; Casso, M.A.; Rendigs, R. R.; Lamothe, P.J.