Scientists have known and studied natural gas hydrates for decades. Vast deposits of hydrates have been found, both in the permafrost and the continental shelves of the oceans of the world. Natural gas hydrates also exist in the universe. Hydrates have played an important role during formation of planets, and our atmosphere and hydrosphere. Want to know more? Read on!

Most oceanic gas hydrates are mapped using seismic data. How much do key seismic parameters vary from a hydrate rock to a water-saturated rock? Should the hydrate be considered as part of pore fluid fill or a part of the rock itself? To answer such questions, we need to understand the rock physics of sediments containing gas hydrates.

“In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it’s the exact opposite.” - Paul Dirac, Physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1933

The need for energy is driving much of the current natural gas hydrate research.

The gas hydrate resource is a function of geology, technology, policy, and market conditions. As we have seen, the commercial resource and recovery potential of gas hydrate strongly depends on the type of gas hydrate accumulation. In Part V of our series on gas hydrates, we discuss the resource potential.

Hydrates in the Arctic (I)

Hydrates in the Arctic (II)

Hydrates in Outer Space (1)

Previously (Part VIII) we discussed the possibilities of gas hydrates on Mars. Here, we look at such possibilities elsewhere in outer space.