Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Oceanography

Gas hydrates on the brink

Huge amounts of methane are locked up in deposits that lie deep beneath the sea floor. New seismic images reveal that these deposits possess unexpected features that might affect their stability.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Gas chimneys and their possible effects on gas-hydrate stability.

References

  1. Wellsbury, P. & Parkes, J. R. in Natural Gas Hydrate in Oceanic and Permafrost Environments (ed. Max, M. D.) 91–104 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Sloan, E. D. Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases (Dekker, New York, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Wood, W. T., Gettrust, J. F., Chapman, N. R., Spence, G. D. & Hyndman, R. D. Nature 420, 656–660 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Gorman, A. R. et al. Geology 30, 327–330 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Dickens, G. R. Org. Geochem. 32, 1179–1193 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mienert, J., Posewang, J. & Baumann, M. in Gas Hydrates: Relevance to World Margin Stability and Climatic Change (eds Henriet, J. P. & Mienert, J.) 275–291 (Geol. Soc., London, 1998).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Dillon, W. P. et al. in Proc. 29th Offshore Technol. Conf. 201–209 (Offshore Tech. Conf., Dallas, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Holbrook, W. S. et al. Geology 30, 467–470 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Lashof, D. A. & Ahuja, D. R. Nature 344, 529–531 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Katz, M. E., Pak, D. K., Dickens, G. R. & Miller, K. G. Science 286, 1531–1533 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Fowler, C. M. R. The Solid Earth (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ingo A. Pecher.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pecher, I. Gas hydrates on the brink. Nature 420, 622–623 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/420622a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/420622a

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing