methane clathrate

(redirected from Methane hydrates)

methane clathrate

A potential source of clean fuel formed when methane produced by bacteria on the ocean floor dissolve and crystallise. While methane clathrate deposits are thought to represent 2–10 times the volume of natural gas, extraction with current technologies is not seen as commercially viable.

References in periodicals archive ?

A team of California researchers is trying to unlock the secrets of this substance by fabricating methane hydrates in a natural setting.

Making a prisoner out of methane

Large deposits of methane hydrates, frozen mixtures of hydrocarbon gas (mostly methane) and water, occur over large areas of the ocean floor.

International expedition investigates climate change in Arctic

In fact, they say, the warming triggered by one large slide could have destabilized methane hydrates in other locations.

Giant seabed slides may have climate link

As ocean temperatures warm in the next century, shallow deposits of methane hydrates could melt and destabilize sediments on the continental slopes.

Mud volcano stews in chilly Arctic waters

There are also methane hydrates, a solid that forms when methane and water mix in cold temperatures.

Globe warming methane bubbling up from undersea reserves

Methane hydrates are a potential new source of natural gas, and are renowned as the "ice that burns."

New ice provides an eco-friendly way for putting out fires

Methane hydrates will remain stable as long as the external pressure remains high and the temperature low.

Global warming may initiate release of underground methane into atmosphere

As it sank and flooded the deep ocean, this water would have warmed the seafloor and melted solid deposits of methane hydrates. Once the methane bubbled up into the air, it would act as a greenhouse gas, warming the world (SN: 3/22/97, p.

Caribbean blasts sparked global warmth

With so little known about methane hydrates, energy experts say that it is hard to predict whether society will ever tap into these deposits as a fuel source.

The Ice that Burns

These locations, at a depth of 4,300 feet, were selected after an evaluation of seafloor geologic features and an estimation of the presence of methane hydrates.