The USGS Gas Hydrates Project analyzes the sediments that make up gas hydrate reservoirs in the Physical Properties Laboratory and manages the standalone Hydrate Pressure Core Analysis Laboratory (HyPrCAL) at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC) to study hydrate-bearing sediments in support of energy resources and geohazards research.
William F Waite, PhD
Bill Waite (he/him/his), has spent his career being thrilled, confused, inspired and exasperated by gas hydrates, an educational relationship he began as a Stanford post-doc before shifting to the USGS in 1999. He has moved from laboratory studies of physical properties of pure gas hydrates, to laboratory and field measurements of the physical properties of gas hydrate in sediment.
Gas Hydrates Project
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.
HyPrCAL Laboratory
HyPrCAL Laboratory
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project manages the standalone Hydrate Pressure Core Analysis Laboratory (HyPrCAL) at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC) to study hydrate-bearing sediments in support of energy resources and geohazards research.
Research Interest
Gas hydrates are crystalline compounds formed when light “guest” molecules (such as methane) stabilizes cage-like structures in which water molecules enclose individual guest molecules. Gas hydrates are stable at reduced temperatures and elevated pressures that can be found on Earth in a variety of environments (primarily in marine continental slope sediment, and in sediments associated with permafrost). Their global distribution has helped create an international, multidisciplinary research community studying gas hydrate systems from biological, chemical, geological and geophysical perspectives. A wonderful consequence of the international interest has been in providing a rich, collaborative research experience that has significantly shaped and advanced my understanding of gas hydrate over the years.
Thanks to the U.S. Geological Survey’s long-term commitment to gas hydrate research , I have been able to spend 20+ years growing from my initial interest in pure gas hydrate physical properties to laboratory studies of gas hydrate in sediment, and now to ongoing field-based studies of naturally-occurring gas hydrate collected in pressure cores. Most of the USGS gas hydrate fieldwork I have been, and continue to be associated with, is focused on gas hydrate as an energy resource (additional information on those projects are accessible through the USGS Energy Program’s gas hydrate page.
I look forward to opportunities for connecting physical property investigations with interdisciplinary studies of microbiology and geochemistry as we continue to advance our natural-systems level appreciation of gas hydrate’s role not just as a potential energy resource, but as a dynamic element in natural processes.
Science and Products
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...
Gas Hydrates Lab Sites
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project analyzes the sediments that make up gas hydrate reservoirs in the Physical Properties Laboratory and manages the standalone Hydrate Pressure Core Analysis Laboratory (HyPrCAL) at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC) to study hydrate-bearing sediments in support of energy resources and geohazards research.
Counterflow
By circulating water downward through a clear chamber (“capture cone”), bubbles of gas can be held, imaged and studied over time. The left image shows bubbles of xenon in the process of developing coatings of gas hydrate. The shiny bubble indicated near the top is hydrate-free, the white/opaque bubbles have coatings of xenon hydrate. A few bubbles
By circulating water downward through a clear chamber (“capture cone”), bubbles of gas can be held, imaged and studied over time. The left image shows bubbles of xenon in the process of developing coatings of gas hydrate. The shiny bubble indicated near the top is hydrate-free, the white/opaque bubbles have coatings of xenon hydrate. A few bubbles
Pycnometer
Grain density results obtained using a pycnometer inform other geotechnical testing, such as the consolidation results from the laboratory’s oedometers.
Grain density results obtained using a pycnometer inform other geotechnical testing, such as the consolidation results from the laboratory’s oedometers.
Benchtop Transparent Micromodels
A glass micromodel (upper left) allows fluid flow through gaps between solid cylinders (gap size of 100 micrometers is shown in the upper-right image). Injecting fine-grained materials allows us to characterize the conditions in which clogs occur, as they have done in the upper- and lower-right pictures.
A glass micromodel (upper left) allows fluid flow through gaps between solid cylinders (gap size of 100 micrometers is shown in the upper-right image). Injecting fine-grained materials allows us to characterize the conditions in which clogs occur, as they have done in the upper- and lower-right pictures.
USGS in Daejon, South Korea
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
Gas Hydrate from offshore 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/
USGS research geologist, Tim Collett
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
Gas Hydrate and Sediment Pressure Chamber
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
Oedometer
Sediment consolidation in an oedometer provides constraints on how much the reservoir sediment is likely to compact while methane from the reservoir’s gas hydrate is extracted as an energy resource. Compaction data helps engineers optimize the construction and operation of wells that target gas hydrate reservoirs.
Sediment consolidation in an oedometer provides constraints on how much the reservoir sediment is likely to compact while methane from the reservoir’s gas hydrate is extracted as an energy resource. Compaction data helps engineers optimize the construction and operation of wells that target gas hydrate reservoirs.
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).
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.
Science and Products
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...
Gas Hydrates Lab Sites
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project analyzes the sediments that make up gas hydrate reservoirs in the Physical Properties Laboratory and manages the standalone Hydrate Pressure Core Analysis Laboratory (HyPrCAL) at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC) to study hydrate-bearing sediments in support of energy resources and geohazards research.
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project analyzes the sediments that make up gas hydrate reservoirs in the Physical Properties Laboratory and manages the standalone Hydrate Pressure Core Analysis Laboratory (HyPrCAL) at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC) to study hydrate-bearing sediments in support of energy resources and geohazards research.
Counterflow
By circulating water downward through a clear chamber (“capture cone”), bubbles of gas can be held, imaged and studied over time. The left image shows bubbles of xenon in the process of developing coatings of gas hydrate. The shiny bubble indicated near the top is hydrate-free, the white/opaque bubbles have coatings of xenon hydrate. A few bubbles
By circulating water downward through a clear chamber (“capture cone”), bubbles of gas can be held, imaged and studied over time. The left image shows bubbles of xenon in the process of developing coatings of gas hydrate. The shiny bubble indicated near the top is hydrate-free, the white/opaque bubbles have coatings of xenon hydrate. A few bubbles
Pycnometer
Grain density results obtained using a pycnometer inform other geotechnical testing, such as the consolidation results from the laboratory’s oedometers.
Grain density results obtained using a pycnometer inform other geotechnical testing, such as the consolidation results from the laboratory’s oedometers.
Benchtop Transparent Micromodels
A glass micromodel (upper left) allows fluid flow through gaps between solid cylinders (gap size of 100 micrometers is shown in the upper-right image). Injecting fine-grained materials allows us to characterize the conditions in which clogs occur, as they have done in the upper- and lower-right pictures.
A glass micromodel (upper left) allows fluid flow through gaps between solid cylinders (gap size of 100 micrometers is shown in the upper-right image). Injecting fine-grained materials allows us to characterize the conditions in which clogs occur, as they have done in the upper- and lower-right pictures.
USGS in Daejon, South Korea
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
Gas Hydrate from offshore 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/
USGS research geologist, Tim Collett
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
Gas Hydrate and Sediment Pressure Chamber
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
Oedometer
Sediment consolidation in an oedometer provides constraints on how much the reservoir sediment is likely to compact while methane from the reservoir’s gas hydrate is extracted as an energy resource. Compaction data helps engineers optimize the construction and operation of wells that target gas hydrate reservoirs.
Sediment consolidation in an oedometer provides constraints on how much the reservoir sediment is likely to compact while methane from the reservoir’s gas hydrate is extracted as an energy resource. Compaction data helps engineers optimize the construction and operation of wells that target gas hydrate reservoirs.
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).
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.