methane clathrate

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Related to methane clathrate: Methane hydrate, Gas hydrate

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 ?

As the Arctic Ocean warms, it is melting the permafrost layer and methane clathrate. This is causing methane to bubble up from the ocean floor and into the atmosphere where it will trap heat.

Feedback loops threaten to turbo-charge climate change

Left out on a tabletop, methane clathrate dissociates into its constituents, leaving nothing but a puddle of water.

Ice resists melting in warm conditions

"There are vast stores of methane clathrates beneath the ocean and in permafrost and there is evidence that millions of years ago release from these storages caused significant climate change, although none in more recent times," he added.

Methane more stable in a warming world than previously thought

MacDonald, "Role of methane clathrates in past and future climates," Climatic Change, vol.

Arctic ocean gas hydrate stability in a changing climate

Possible sources include methane clathrates, basically a methane molecule inside a "cage" or lattice of ice molecules.

NASA estimates how long Titan's chemical factory has been in business

Studies measuring isotopes of carbon, conducted by an international team of scientists, including CSIRO, have shown that methane clathrates were not responsible for the large and rapid increase in methane when temperatures rose at the end of the last ice age (12 000 years ago).

Methane reductions needed urgently

Methane garners its own tipping point in the form of methane clathrates, the 1- to 2.5-trillion-ton reservoir of frozen methane underlying the ocean floor and the Arctic permafrost.