Natural methane gas hydrates that occur in the marine environment comprise a major source of global methane and are known to be associated with sediment failure on continental slopes that can impact telecommunication cables and other infrastructure as well as fishery habitats. They can also cause blow-outs during the drilling of oil and gas wells, causing loss of life and significant loss of industry investment. Gas hydrates also comprise a major source of natural gas that could form an important methane resource in the future and, when they disintegrate as the seafloor warms, may also contribute to the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Although there have been numerous studies of these unique minerals over the last two decades, it is clear that our understanding of their dynamics and their response to various environmental forcings is inadequate. This funding provides support to early career scientists to attend the co-located Fifth Gordon Research Conference on natural gas hydrate systems and its companion Gordon Conference Research Seminar on gas hydrates. New data emerging from marine cabled observatories in the Pacific Northwest off Oregon and Vancouver Island will be discussed as will new findings from Japan, China, and India. Other topics include natural gas transport in cold regions and challenges in the development of marine sediment gas hydrate fields. Broader impacts of the funding include support of early career scientists, focusing on engaging those underrepresented in the sciences, and providing a venue for networking and an exchange of ideas and information on on-going research between energy industry professionals and academics.
Marine methane gas hydrates occur widely in marine sediments. They are ephemeral minerals that are stable at conditions of only small ranges of low temperatures and higher-pressure conditions. Marine methane gas hydrates are susceptible to rapid and catastrophic dissolution as a result of depressurization (e.g., during borehole drilling) or subseafloor increases in temperature (e.g., due to increasing ocean temperature due to climate change), which moves them out of their thermodynamic stability field. This funding provides funds to support the attendance of early career US researchers at the international gas hydrate system Gordon Research Conference and Research Seminar in Galveston, Texas. Topics include presentations on new data and research and discussions of the dynamics and forcings that impact methane gas hydrated occurrence, distribution, and dissolution. Over the last two decades, many field and laboratory studies have been carried out to characterize these parameters; however, it is still not clear how many of the forcings on gas hydrates operate and are linked and which, and in what setting, are controlling under different conditions. This workshop is constituted to bring the international intellectual pool of experts on gas hydrates from academia and industry together to share results of their most recent research and discuss challenges and possible ways forward to dramatically improve our understanding a marine methane gas hydrate generation and behavior.
