Taken together, they also provide a potential explanation for the so - called memory effect — the fact that «aqueous solutions in contact with methane form solid methane hydrate at a much faster rate if they have already undergone a methane hydrate formation - decomposition cycle,» said Alavi, almost as if the hydrate «remembers» its previous state. (sciencedaily.com)
Case in point: Pohlman, who is now a biogeochemist for the U.S. Geological Survey, studies global distributions of methane deposits, stored in the seafloor as solid methane hydrates, and how the destabilization of those deposits could impact climate change. (discovermagazine.com)
When methane hydrates «melt,» they release the methane trapped inside the ice, but because the methane was first trapped under pressure when the hydrate was formed, one cubic metre of solid methane hydrate will release 160 cubic metres of methane gas. (sciencedaily.com)