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-bearing sediments, and the biogeochemistry of marine and permafrost gas hydrate systems. The group includes field-based scientists, numerical modelers, laboratory scientists, and supporting technical personnel for marine, permafrost, and laboratory operations. Much of the research is carried out in collaboration with other federal agencies (especially the U.S. Department of Energy) or academic partners, and there are frequently opportunities to collaborate on international programs that jointly serve the Project's mission and the goals of the international partners.
Gas Hydrates Research
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project focuses on the study of natural gas hydrates in deepwater marine systems and permafrost areas.
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
- Study the spatial and temporal connections between submarine slope failures and gas hydrate dynamics
The Gas Hydrate Project conducts multidisciplinary field studies, participates in national and international deep drilling expeditions, and maintains several laboratories focused on hydrate-bearing sediments.
Scientific research associated with the Gas Hydrates Project.
The Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment (MATRIX)
Data Releases associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Mulitmedia items associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Publications associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Gas Hydrates on Alaskan Marine Margins
Gas hydrate distributions on the marine margins of the U.S. state of Alaska are more poorly known than those on other U.S. margins, where bottom simulating reflections have been systematically mapped on marine seismic data to support modern, quantitative assessments of gas-in-place in gas hydrates.
Permeability anisotropy and relative permeability in sediments from the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02, offshore India
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
Preface: Marine gas hydrate reservoir systems along the eastern continental margin of India: Results of the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02
National Gas Hydrate Program expedition 02: Identification of gas hydrate prospects in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, offshore India
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 summary of scientific results: Numerical simulation of reservoir response to depressurization
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition-02: Operational and technical summary
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 Summary of Scientific Results: Gas hydrate systems along the eastern continental margin of India
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 summary of scientific results: Evaluation of natural gas hydrate-bearing pressure cores
Pressure core analysis of geomechanical and fluid flow properties of seals associated with gas hydrate-bearing reservoirs in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, offshore India
Downhole physical property-based description of a gas hydrate petroleum system in NGHP-02 Area C: A channel, levee, fan complex in the Krishna-Godavari Basin offshore eastern India
Gas hydrate in nature
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Gas Hydrates Project
Geonarratives associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
News stories associated with the Gas Hydrates project.
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.
Gas Hydrates FAQs
What are gas hydrates?
Gas hydrates are a crystalline solid formed of water and gas. It looks and acts much like ice, but it contains huge amounts of methane; it is known to occur on every continent; and it exists in huge quantities in marine sediments in a layer several hundred meters thick directly below the sea floor and in association with permafrost in the Arctic. It is not stable at normal sea-level pressures and...
Gas Hydrates Project Partners
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-bearing sediments, and the biogeochemistry of marine and permafrost gas hydrate systems. The group includes field-based scientists, numerical modelers, laboratory scientists, and supporting technical personnel for marine, permafrost, and laboratory operations. Much of the research is carried out in collaboration with other federal agencies (especially the U.S. Department of Energy) or academic partners, and there are frequently opportunities to collaborate on international programs that jointly serve the Project's mission and the goals of the international partners.
Gas Hydrates Research
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project focuses on the study of natural gas hydrates in deepwater marine systems and permafrost areas.
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
- Study the spatial and temporal connections between submarine slope failures and gas hydrate dynamics
The Gas Hydrate Project conducts multidisciplinary field studies, participates in national and international deep drilling expeditions, and maintains several laboratories focused on hydrate-bearing sediments.
Scientific research associated with the Gas Hydrates Project.
The Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment (MATRIX)
Data Releases associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Mulitmedia items associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Publications associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
Gas Hydrates on Alaskan Marine Margins
Gas hydrate distributions on the marine margins of the U.S. state of Alaska are more poorly known than those on other U.S. margins, where bottom simulating reflections have been systematically mapped on marine seismic data to support modern, quantitative assessments of gas-in-place in gas hydrates.
Permeability anisotropy and relative permeability in sediments from the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02, offshore India
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
Preface: Marine gas hydrate reservoir systems along the eastern continental margin of India: Results of the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02
National Gas Hydrate Program expedition 02: Identification of gas hydrate prospects in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, offshore India
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 summary of scientific results: Numerical simulation of reservoir response to depressurization
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition-02: Operational and technical summary
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 Summary of Scientific Results: Gas hydrate systems along the eastern continental margin of India
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 summary of scientific results: Evaluation of natural gas hydrate-bearing pressure cores
Pressure core analysis of geomechanical and fluid flow properties of seals associated with gas hydrate-bearing reservoirs in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, offshore India
Downhole physical property-based description of a gas hydrate petroleum system in NGHP-02 Area C: A channel, levee, fan complex in the Krishna-Godavari Basin offshore eastern India
Gas hydrate in nature
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Gas Hydrates Project
Geonarratives associated with the Gas Hydrates Project
News stories associated with the Gas Hydrates project.
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.
Gas Hydrates FAQs
What are gas hydrates?
Gas hydrates are a crystalline solid formed of water and gas. It looks and acts much like ice, but it contains huge amounts of methane; it is known to occur on every continent; and it exists in huge quantities in marine sediments in a layer several hundred meters thick directly below the sea floor and in association with permafrost in the Arctic. It is not stable at normal sea-level pressures and...
Gas Hydrates Project Partners