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 Position
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.
Publications
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 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 offshore South Korea during the Second Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrate Expedition, UBGH2
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.
High concentration methane hydrate in a silt reservoir from the deep-water Gulf of Mexico
We present results from 30 quantitative degassing experiments of pressure core sections collected during The University of Texas-Gulf of Mexico 2-1 (UT-GOM2-1) Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition at Green Canyon Block 955 in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico as part of The University of Texas at Austin–US Department of Energy Deepwater Methane Hydrate...
Philips, Stephen; Flemings, Peter; Holland, Melanie; Schultheiss, Peter; Waite, William F.; Jang, Junbong; Petrou, Ethan; Hammon, Helen Pressure coring a Gulf of Mexico deep-water turbidite gas hydrate reservoir: Initial results from The University of Texas–Gulf of Mexico 2-1 (UT-GOM2-1) Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition
The University of Texas Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition (UT-GOM2-1) recovered cores at near in situ formation pressures from a gas hydrate reservoir composed of sandy silt and clayey silt beds in Green Canyon Block 955 in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico. The expedition results are synthesized and linked to other detailed analyses presented in...
Flemings, Peter; Phillips, Stephen; Boswell, Ray; Collett, Timothy; Cook, Ann; Dong, Tiannong; Frye, Matthew; Goldberg, David; Guerin, Giles; Holland, Melanie; Jang, Junbong; Meazell, Kevin; Morrison, Jamie; O'Connell, Joshua; Petrou, Ethan; Pettigrew, Tom; Polito, Peter; Portnov, Alexey; Santra, Manasj; Schultheiss, Peter; Seol, Yongkoo; Shedd, William; Solomon, Evan S.; Thomas, Carla; Waite, William F.; You, Kehua 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. Timescales and processes of methane hydrate formation and breakdown, with application to geologic systems
Gas hydrate is an ice-like form of water and low molecular weight gas stable at temperatures of roughly -10ºC to 25ºC and pressures of ~3 to 30 MPa in geologic systems. Natural gas hydrates sequester an estimated one-sixth of Earth’s methane and are found primarily in deepwater marine sediments on continental margins, but also in permafrost areas...
Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Waite, William F. 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. 2D micromodel study of clogging behavior of fine-grained particles associated with gas hydrate production in NGHP-02 gas hydrate reservoir sediments
Fine-grained particles (fines) commonly coexist with coarse-grained sediments that host gas hydrate. These fines can be mobilized by liquid and gas flow during gas hydrate production. Once mobilized, fines can clog pore throats and reduce reservoir permeability. Even where particle sizes are smaller than pore-throat sizes, clogs can form due to...
Cao, S.C.; Jang, Junbong; Waite, William F.; Collett, Timothy; Junger, Jenni; Kumar, P. 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, MargaritaPre-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.