Posted on 01/29/2006 10:31:47 PM PST by neverdem
AP SCIENCE WRITER
LOS ANGELES -- Scientists have discovered an undersea deposit of frozen methane just off the Southern California coast, but whether it can be harnessed as a potential energy source is unknown.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in tapping methane hydrates, ice-like crystals that form at low temperatures and high pressure in seabeds and in Arctic permafrost.
Scientists estimate that the methane trapped in previously known frozen reservoirs around the globe could power the world for centuries. But finding the technology to mine such deposits has proved elusive.
The newly discovered deposit, believed to be substantial in size, was found about 15 miles off the coast at a depth of about 2,600 feet, at the summit of an undersea mud volcano. Scientists were conducting an unrelated study when they came across the volcano, which sits on top of an active fault zone in the Santa Monica Basin.
The discovery is detailed in the February issue of the journal Geology.
The ecosystem surrounding the methane hydrate site was unlike any of the other vast hydrate deposits around the world. Scientists found seashells and clams with unique chemical characteristics, suggesting the area experiences an extreme flux of methane gas mixing with water, said Jim Hein, a marine geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park.
In additional to technical problems standing in the way of mining methane hydrates, Hein said mining this deposit probably would be difficult because of its proximity to shipping lanes from Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Some scientists also worry about the environmental effects of such large-scale gas deposits. Hydrates are estimated to contain about three times as much methane as is currently in the atmosphere, and some scientists say releasing it could lead to global warming and change the world's climate.
On the Net:
U.S. Geological Survey: http://www.usgs.gov
Hedging their bets. Warmer, colder, whatever. Industry is bad, that's all.
Oh, yeah, global warming or is it cooling. All a desert? All a glacier?
Some people just like to scream hysterically, but isn't that what rock concerts are for?
What, pray tell, is the freezing point of methane hydrate.
It's not warm 2600 ft down, to be sure, but it's not "freezing". And, if it is associated with a mud volcano, what must the temperature be? And how is it maintained?
Well, there's your answer. They could have found a free unending supply of hydrogen, but because it's off the California coast, they could never retrieve it.
Very interesting post. Mud volcano, methane, fault zone...what, way beneath might they find next?
Just a bit of geological speculation, here, but I think the Methane hydrate deposits are part of the Earth's temperature regulation system. During an ice age, sea levels get considerably lower--up to 300 meters lower. At some point, the reduction of hydrostatic pressure on the methane hydrates will cause them to boil off, causing global warming and reversing the climatic trend toward lower temperatures.
Producing these deposits for natural gas just might make the next ice age considerably longer.
Just S.W.A.G.*, I have no research data to back it, but something to consider.
*Scientific Wild-A$$ed Guessing
It is there, a little salty, and oxidized, but there...
If you believe this link, then it seems to be about 18 degrees C.
Go this link. It's the website for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. It will tell you all you need to know about gas hydrates and the state of research on them.
The Japanese research vessel Chikyu is also doing hydrate research. Hydrate resources off the coast of Japan are believed to be in the Billions of tons.
http://www.iodp.org/
Hmmm. Angle drill it (for safety), maybe? ...and inject water into the hole to melt it, break it up and float it out?
Isn't underwater methane being released suspected in the loss of some of the boats in the Bermuda Triangle?
I seem to remember that it lowers the density of the water, and boats simply don't float on it.
I the morning I will google this and see what I can find.
Did I hear someone say endangered species?
Doesn't the freezing point vary by pressure?
Opps, I should have read to the bottom before replying. Thanks for the chart. I knew pressure changed the temperature on way or another (as it does for the boiling point as well).
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