William F Waite, PhD
Bill Waite 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 U.S. Geological Survey 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.
Biography
Education
Doctor of Philosophy and Masters of Science, Physics, University of Colorado: 1992-1998
Dissertation: A restricted meniscus motion model for wave attenuation in partially fluid-saturated porous rock, supervised by Prof. Hartmut Spetzler.
Bachelor of Arts, Physics (magna cum laude), Oberlin College: 1988-1992
Senior Thesis: Prediction and Measurement of Total Nuclear Reaction Cross Sections, supervised by Prof. Robert Warner.
Professional Positions
Geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA: 1999-Present
Leader of the Gas Hydrate Project’s Laboratory Program. I coordinate research between the Woods Hole, MA and Menlo Park, CA laboratories in support of Gas Hydrate Project studies. I lead or co-lead fundamental, applied and synthesis-level studies of gas hydrate, with a focus on physical property measurements in pure gas hydrate, gas-hydrate-bearing sediment, and gas-hydrate-bearing pressure cores. Current Assignment: Lead USGS scientist for physical property studies in the NGHP-02 project.
Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford University/U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA: 1998-1999 Bridged the gas hydrate laboratory efforts at Stanford University and U.S. Geological Survey, measuring wave velocities and thermal properties of ice and of gas hydrates.
Publications
Professional Activities
Selected Invited Seminars:
2017: Methane gas hydrates: A tale of bubbles great and small. Talk presented at the University of New Hampshire, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping Joint Hydrographic Center Seminar Series, April 7, 2017.
2016: Overviews of US involvement in pressure coring, with emphasis on recent results from the joint Indian effort. Presentation given in Sapporo, Japan to Japanese and Indian representatives from AIST, JOGMEC, and India. Presentations given in February and June.
2015: What do we learn from physical property measurements? Presentation given aboard the D/V Chikyu during the National Gas Hydrate Program NGHP-02 research cruise offshore India, May 6, 2015.
2015: Applications of Pressure Core Characterization Tools: Insights from the Nankai Trough. Invited talk given at the Gulf of Mexico Scientific Planning Workshop for Methane Hydrate Pressure Coring and Analysis, University of Texas, Austin, TX, March 9, 2015.
Rendering Scientific Judgement
Advisory Committees:
Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory
Gas Hydrate Reservoir Modeling for the National Gas Hydrate Program of India (NGHP)
University of Texas Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Project
Thesis committee member:
Colorado School of Mines
Georgia Institute of Technology
GeoForschungsZentrum (Potsdam, Germany)
Associate Editor:
Journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology (currently: guest editor for the NGHP-02 special volume)
Journal of Geophysical Research B, Solid Earth (Jan. 2003 – Dec. 2011)
Reviewer:
2013 Exceptional Reviewer Award from American Institute of Physics (for the journal Review of Scientific Instruments)
2013 Certificate of Reviewing Excellence from Elsevier Publishing (for the Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering)
2011 Reviewer Certificate of Appreciation from the American Chemistry Society
Affiliations:
Member, American Geophysical Union (1987 – present)
Member, Phi Beta Kappa, Scientific Honor Society (1992 – present)
Member, Sigma Xi, Society for Research Scientists (1992 – present)
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- Climate and Hydrate Interactions
Breakdown of gas hydrates due to short- or long-term climate change may release methane to the ocean-atmosphere system. Methane that reaches the atmosphere can in turn exacerbate climate warming. Studies of methane hydrate dynamics and methane release on the continental shelf and upper slope in the US Arctic and Atlantic margin are tracking these processes.
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...
Preliminary global database of known and inferred gas hydrate locations
This data release provides a text description of the region, geographic coordinates, and the citation for the published reference for known and inferred gas hydrate locations. Where the existence of gas hydrate was inferred, the description of the criteria used to make the inference was also included.
Dependence of sedimentation behavior on pore-fluid chemistry for sediment collected offshore South Korea during the Second Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrate Expedition, UBGH2
One goal of Korea’s Second Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrate Expedition, UBGH2, is to examine geotechnical properties of the marine sediment associated with methane gas hydrate occurrences found offshore eastern Korea in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea. Methane gas hydrate is a naturally occurring crystalline solid that sequesters methane in individual molecular cages formed by a lattice of wat
Pressure Core Characterization Tool Measurements of Compressibility, Permeability, and Shear Strength of Fine-Grained Sediment Collected from Area C, Krishna-Godavari Basin, during India's National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition NGHP-02
This data release provides results for flow-through permeability, consolidation, and direct shear measurements made on fine-grained seal sediment from Site NGHP-02-08 offshore eastern India. The sediment was collected in a pressure core from the Krishna-Godavari Basin during the 2015 Indian National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 2 (NGHP-02).
Dependence of Sedimentation Behavior on Pore-Fluid Chemistry for Sediment Collected From Area B, Krishna-Godavari Basin During India's National Gas Hydrate Program, NGHP-02
The results included in this data release can provide insight into the types of fines present, which can be difficult to quantify if using the more standard x-ray diffraction method for identifying fines and indicate whether the in situ fines are likely to increase or decrease their capacity to clog pore throats as the pore water transitions from higher to lower salinity.
Physical Properties of Sediment Collected during India's National Gas Hydrate Program NGHP-02 Expedition in the Krishna-Godavari Basin Offshore Eastern India, 2015
This data release contains measurement results for physical properties measured on recovered core material, including measurements on gas-hydrate-bearing sediment preserved in pressure cores, and physical properties of gas hydrate-free sediment recovered from conventional cores.
An international code comparison study on coupled thermal, hydrologic and geomechanical processes of natural gas hydrate-bearing sediments
Geologic reservoirs containing gas hydrate occur beneath permafrost environments and within marine continental slope sediments, representing a potentially vast natural gas source. Numerical simulators provide scientists and engineers with tools for understanding how production efficiency depends on the numerous, interdependent (coupled) processes...
White, M.D.; Kneafsey, T.J.; Seol, Y.; Waite, William F.; Uchida, S.; Lin, J.S.; Myshakin, E.M.; Gai, X; Gupta, S.; Reagan, M.T.; Queiruga, A.F.; Kimoto, S. Potential freshening impacts on fines migration and pore-throat clogging during gas hydrate production: 2-D micromodel study with Diatomaceous UBGH2 sediments
The methane gas hydrate stored in natural sediments is considered a potential gas resource. Countries such as China, India, Japan, and Korea are interested in commercializing this resource, and offshore field pilot tests for gas production have been conducted using depressurization methods to destabilize gas hydrate and facilitate the migration...
Jang, Junbong; Cao, Shaung; Stern, Laura A.; Waite, William F.; Jung, Jongwon; Lee, Joo Yong Gas hydrate petroleum systems: What constitutes the “seal”?
The gas hydrate petroleum system (GHPS) approach, which has been used to characterize gas hydrates in nature, utilizes three distinct components: a methane source, a methane migration pathway, and a reservoir that not only contains gas hydrate, but also acts as a seal to prevent methane loss. Unlike GHPS, a traditional petroleum system (PS)...
Jang, Junbong; Waite, William F.; Stern, Laura A. Permeability anisotropy and relative permeability in sediments from the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02, offshore India
Gas and water permeability through hydrate-bearing sediments essentially governs the economic feasibility of gas production from gas hydrate deposits. Characterizing a reservoir’s permeability can be difficult because even collocated permeability measurements can vary by 4-5 orders of magnitude, due partly to differences between how various...
Dai, Sheng; Kim, J.; Xu, Yue; Waite, William F.; Jang, Junbong; Yoneda, J.; Collett, Timothy S.; Kumar, Pushpendra Pressure core based onshore laboratory analysis on mechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments recovered during India's National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition (NGHP) 02
A solid understanding of the mechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments is essential for the safe and economic development of methane hydrate as an energy resource. In 2015, 104 pressure cores were collected, recovering sediments from above and within concentrated hydrate reservoirs in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, as part of India’s...
Yoneda, J.; Oshima, Motoi; Kida, Masato; Kato, Akira; Konno, Yoshihiro; Jin, Yusuke; Jang, Junbong; Waite, William F.; Kumar, Pushpendra; Tenma, Norio Physical property characteristics of gas hydrate-bearing reservoir and associated seal sediments collected during NGHP-02 in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, in the offshore of India
India’s National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02), was conducted to better understand geologic controls on gas hydrate occurrence and morphology, targeting potentially coarse-grained sediments near the base of the continental slope offshore eastern India. This study combines seismic, logging-while-drilling data, and a petroleum systems...
Jang, Junbong; Waite, William F.; Stern, Laura A.; Collett, Timothy S.; Kumar, Pushpendra Compressibility and particle crushing of Krishna-Godavari Basin sediments from offshore India: Implications for gas production from deep-water gas hydrate deposits
Depressurizing a gas hydrate reservoir to extract methane induces high effective stresses that act to compress the reservoir. Predicting whether a gas hydrate reservoir is viable as an energy resource requires enhanced understanding of the reservoir’s compressibility and susceptibility to particle crushing in response to elevated effective stress...
Kim, J.; Dai, Sheng; Jang, Junbong; Waite, William F.; Collett, Timothy S.; Kumar, Pushpendra India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 Summary of Scientific Results: Gas hydrate systems along the eastern continental margin of India
The primary objectives of the India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02) were to obtain new data on the occurrence of gas hydrate systems and to advance the understanding of the controls on the formation of gas hydrate accumulations in the offshore of India. In accordance with the ultimate overall goal of the NGHP effort to assess...
Collett, Timothy S.; Ray Boswell; Waite, William F.; Pushpendra Kumar; Sandip Kumar Roy; Krishan Chopra; Sunil Kumar Singh; Yasuhiro Yamada; Tenma, Norio; Pohlman, John; Zyrianova, Margarita Clustered BSRs: Evidence for gas hydrate-bearing turbidite complexes in folded regions, example from the Perdido Fold Belt, northern Gulf of Mexico
We describe previously undocumented but extensive gas hydrate accumulations in the mouth of Perdido Canyon in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The accumulations are located within central parts of structural domes (four-way closures) and are characterized by stacked, high-amplitude bottom simulating reflections (BSRs) that we call clustered BSRs....
Portnov, Alexy; Cook, Ann; Sawyer, Derek E.; Yang, Chen; Hillman, Jess; Waite, William F. Permeability variation and anisotropy of gas hydrate-bearing pressure-core sediments recovered from the Krishna–Godavari Basin, offshore India
Permeability measurements were conducted on gas hydrate-bearing pressure-core sediments recovered from the Krishna-Godavari Basin during India's National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02. Pressure cores collected in the deep seabed of the Indian Ocean were cut and stored under high pressure and low temperature on the D/V Chikyu using pressure...
Yoneda, J.; Oshima, Motoi; Kida, Masato; Kato, Akira; Konno, Yoshihiro; Jin, Yusuke; Jang, Junbong; Waite, William F.; Kumar, Pushpendra; Tenma, Norio Xenon hydrate as an analogue of methane hydrate in geologic systems out of thermodynamic equilibrium
Methane hydrate occurs naturally under pressure and temperature conditions that are not straightforward to replicate experimentally. Xenon has emerged as an attractive laboratory alternative to methane for studying hydrate formation and dissociation in multiphase systems, given that it forms hydrates under milder conditions. However, building...
Fu, Xiaojing; Waite, William F.; Cueto-Felgueroso, Luis; Juanes, Ruben India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 summary of scientific results: Evaluation of natural gas hydrate-bearing pressure cores
India’s National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition-02 was conducted in 2015 with the goal of investigating numerous locations that had been determined to be prospective for gas hydrate at high saturation in sand-rich reservoirs. Initial logging while drilling data revealed extensive sand-rich gas hydrate occurrences at multiple drill sites in...
Boswell, R.; Yoneda, J.; Waite, William F.Pre-USGS Publications
USGS Scientists Participate in a Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Pressure Coring Project
In summer 2019, scientists from the USGS Gas Hydrates Project travelled from Woods Hole to the University of Texas (UT) to lead a deep-biosphere study of the microbiological communities associated with gas hydrate.
International Gas Hydrate Workshop held in Tromso, Norway
The 2019 Sedimentary Gas Hydrate Workshop held in Tromso, Norway brought together early-career researchers and international experts including Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Research Geophysicist, Bill Waite, who has spent his career being...
USGS Scientists Participate in Indian Ocean Gas Hydrates Drilling
During the summer of 2015, USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program personnel participated in the Indian Government’s National Gas Hydrates Program (NGHP-02) drilling expedition offshore from eastern India.