The consortium will coordinate scientific input and develop plans for future marine hydrate expeditions to conduct research drilling, recovering samples of the formation, logging and analytical activities to assess the geologic occurrence, regional context, and characteristics
of methane hydrate deposits along the continental margins of the United States, likely focusing on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic margin.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory has issued a solicitation (DE-FOA-0000891) for up to $ 20 million in funding for projects that focus on the following three technical topic areas: (1) characterization
of methane hydrate deposits; (2) response of methane hydrate reservoirs to induced environmental change; and... Read more →
In fact, only one source of carbon that is isotopically light and available in large enough quantities has been pinpointed so far, this is the reservoir
of methane hydrate deposits (Figure 2) buried on the continental shelves of the oceans (Figure 3).
Furthermore, the project will investigate potential future climate effects from destabilisation
of methane hydrate deposits in a warming climate, and will focus on scenarios in 2050 and 2100.
Furthermore, the project will investigate potential future climate effects from destabilisation
of methane hydrate deposits in a warming climate, and will focus on scenarios in 2050 and 2100.
Not exact matches
Gas
hydrates, icelike
deposits of methane locked away in permafrost and buried at the ocean bottom, may pose a threat to our climate (see Discover, March 2004).
One was
Hydrate Ridge, selected for its large
methane deposits and the unusual chemosynthetic organisms that thrive on top
of them.
Under most frozen
hydrate deposits is a layer
of free
methane gas occupying the pore spaces in the sediment.
Given the vastness
of the world's marine
methane hydrate deposits — more than twice the carbon reserves
of all other fossil fuels combined — it's not surprising that government agencies and the petroleum and natural gas industries have long been interested in harvesting this new energy supply.
This issue has quickly risen because Japan conducted its second production test
of these
deposits, known as
methane hydrates, in May.
Worldwide, particularly in deeply buried permafrost and in high - latitude ocean sediments where pressures are high and temperatures are below freezing, icy
deposits called
hydrates hold immense amounts
of methane (SN: 6/25/05, p. 410).
Rich
deposits of methane hydrate underlie much
of the Arctic seafloor.
I have posted on RealClimate about 4 times in the past 5 years regarding the potential thaw
of the methal
hydrate deposits at the bottom
of the oceans.I stated in my posts on your website that I believe firmly that those
deposits are in quite a good bit
of danger
of melting from climate change feedback mechanisms.On Nov 8th, ScienceDaily posted a huge new study on the PETM boundary 55 million years ago, and some key data on how the
methane at that point may very well have melted and contributed to the massive climate shift.I am an amateur who reads in the new a lot about climate change.I'd now like to say «I told you so!!!»
That Shakhova 2010 paper opens with: «The sharp growth in
methane emission (50 Gt over 1 - 5 years) from destructed gas
hydrate deposits on the ESS should result in an increase in the global surface temperature by 3.3 C by the end
of the current century instead
of the expected 2C.»
It seems quite likely that continued global warming will increase the emissions
of methane from permafrost
deposits and marine
hydrates.
In Siberian permafrost, large
deposits of methane gas are trapped in ice, forming what is called a gas
hydrate.
There also vast amounts
of CO2 associated with ocean
methane hydrate deposits.
What is concerning is the possibility that rapid global warming could occur faster than many people believe is possible, if global warming due to atmospheric carbon dioxide causes the Earth's atmosphere to warm enough to release enormous
deposits of frozen
methane (CH4) that are stored in the permafrost above the Arctic Circle and in frozen methane ice, known as methane hydrate, underneath the floors of the oceans throughout the world (see: How Methane Gas Releases Due To Global Warming Could Cause Human Extin
methane (CH4) that are stored in the permafrost above the Arctic Circle and in frozen
methane ice, known as methane hydrate, underneath the floors of the oceans throughout the world (see: How Methane Gas Releases Due To Global Warming Could Cause Human Extin
methane ice, known as
methane hydrate, underneath the floors of the oceans throughout the world (see: How Methane Gas Releases Due To Global Warming Could Cause Human Extin
methane hydrate, underneath the floors
of the oceans throughout the world (see: How
Methane Gas Releases Due To Global Warming Could Cause Human Extin
Methane Gas Releases Due To Global Warming Could Cause Human Extinction).
Another vast source
of methane is in icy
deposits known as
methane hydrates, often in sediments deep under the world's oceans.
You left out the stark tragedies
of ocean acidification and the very real possibility
of a runaway
methane release from warming permafrost and
methane hydrate deposits.
So,
hydrates are highly concentrated
deposits of methane compared to free gas reservoirs, at least for gas reservoirs located above a few km
of burial.
These new projects, managed by the Energy Department's National Energy Technology Laboratory, will focus research on field programs for deepwater
hydrate characterization, the response
of methane hydrate systems to changing climates, and advances in the understanding
of gas -
hydrate - bearing
deposits.
A research team led by The University
of Texas at Austin has been awarded approximately $ 58 million to analyze
methane hydrate deposits under the Gulf
of Mexico.
However, the source
of these
methane emissions remains a matter
of dispute, as other scientists investigating the phenomenon point out that while large
deposits of methane hydrates could be breaking up, the other possibility is a slow leak
of methane that has already gone on for hundreds
of years.
[20] Other problems facing commercial exploitation are detection
of viable reserves and development
of the technology for extracting
methane gas from the
hydrate deposits.
Economic
deposits of hydrate are termed Natural Gas Hydrate (NGH) and are unique in that they store 164 m3 of methane, 0.8 m3 water in 1 m3 h
hydrate are termed Natural Gas
Hydrate (NGH) and are unique in that they store 164 m3 of methane, 0.8 m3 water in 1 m3 h
Hydrate (NGH) and are unique in that they store 164 m3
of methane, 0.8 m3 water in 1 m3
hydratehydrate.
Also, most
of the
methane is in the deep gas
deposits, not in the possible regional layer
of shallow
methane hydrate possibly associated with the Yamal crater.
They claim that salt allows the
methane hydrate deposits to be at the «triple point»
of the system making the system much more temperature sensitive than low salt
deposits.
And I assume from the article that if the
methane hydrate deposit is melting then the bottom water will have a high level
of dissolved
methane.
I don't know
of other discussion in the literature looking specifically at changes in warm currents in relation to known
methane hydrate deposits.
RealClimate is wonderful, and an excellent source
of reliable information.As I've said before,
methane is an extremely dangerous component to global warming.Comment # 20 is correct.There is a sharp melting point to frozen
methane.A huge increase in the release
of methane could happen within the next 50 years.At what point in the Earth's temperature rise and the rise
of co2 would a huge
methane melt occur?No one has answered that definitive issue.If I ask you all at what point would huge amounts
of extra
methane start melting, i.e at what temperature rise
of the ocean near the Artic
methane ice
deposits would the
methane melt, or at what point in the rise
of co2 concentrations in the atmosphere would the
methane melt, I believe that no one could currently tell me the actual answer as to where the sharp melting point exists.
Of course, once that tipping point has been reached, and billions
of tons
of methane outgass from what had been locked stores
of methane, locked away for an eternity, it is exactly the same as the burning
of stored fossil fuels which have been stored for an eternity as well.And even though
methane does not have as long a life as co2, while it is around in the air it can cause other tipping points, i.e. permafrost melting, to arrive much sooner.I will reiterate what I've said before on this and other sites.
Methane is a hugely underreported, underestimated risk.How about RealClimate attempts to model exactly what would happen to other tipping points, such as the melting permafrost, if indeed a huge increase in the melting
of the methal
hydrate ice WERE to occur within the next 50 years.My amateur guess is that the huge, albeit temporary, increase in
methane over even three or four decades might push other relevent tipping points to arrive much, much, sooner than they normally would, thereby vastly incresing negative feedback mechanisms.We KNOW that quick, huge, changes occured in the Earth's climate in the past.See other relevent posts in the past from Realclimate.Climate often does not change slowly, but undergoes huge, quick, changes periodically, due to negative feedbacks accumulating, and tipping the climate to a quick change.Why should the danger from huge potential
methane releases be vievwed with any less trepidation?
Carolyn Ruppel, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey, is leading some
of the efforts to get better information and especially to map areas off northern Alaska that may contain
deposits of methane hydrate.
On catastrophic
methane degassing: Shakova and Semiletov have proposed a mechanism — the destabilisation
of the permafrost cap overlying large
methane hydrate deposits that contain a high proportion
of free gas.
Here in Oregon we are the somewhat unwitting hosts
of a great deal
of methane hydrate research by Oregon State University, some Texas university people (and backing by the good old Houston - based gas industry),
of deposits on and near the ocean floor on the Gorda Ridge just off our coast, which is a consequence
of the subduction zone geomorphology
of the area.