2. METHANE
ALSO KNOWN AS NATURAL GAS
USED AS FUEL FOR HEATING HOMES

3. Sources of Methane

4. What are gas hydrates and where are they?
methane molecules trapped in a cage of water crystals
in ocean floor sediments at depths greater than 300 m

5. Sample from coastal Oregon

6. How much gas hydrate is there?
The worldwide estimate is twice the amount of all known fossil fuels.
Some scientists estimate that there may be enough gas hydrates on earth to power the human race for 3000 years.
Off the coast of the Carolinas there may be more than 70 times the amount of gas used in the USA in 1989.

7. Where are the green dots?

8. Experimental drilling rig run by ConocoPhillips in the Arctic attempts to extract methane from ice.
Ignik Sikumi #1 gas hydrate well on the Alaska North Slope. A USGS gas hydrate resource assessment determined that the North Slope has an extensive gas hydrate resource trapped below permafrost.

10. JOIDES Resolution
There are only two ships in the world capable of drilling in the deep ocean. Both are research vessels.
JAMSTEC Chikyu

11. Concerns hazardous drilling conditions
alter velocity of sound with implications for sonar devices used in defense, seismic exploration, research, and animal communication
may cause landslides on the continental slope
alter the marine environment with possibly deleterious consequences – pollute water column and kill benthic communities

12. Amounts of methane in our atmosphere have been increasing since the industrial revolution. Methane is a greenhouse gas times stronger than carbon dioxide, thus contributing significantly to global warming.

13. The Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum occurred about 55 million years ago. It represents the warmest time in Earth’s history. 9 degrees F warmer than normal.
The PETM was accompanied by a mass extinction (~50%) of creatures living in the deep sea. The cause is unknown but one hypothesis blames massive releases of methane hydrates from the ocean floor.

14. White sediment full of shells of tiny sea creatures
Brown sediment devoid of shells and full of iron

15. Worst Case Scenario
Computer models indicate that with a steady warming of the ocean of 3 ◦C, about 85 % of the methane trapped in the sea floor could be released into the water column. be released into the water column. 

16. Samples from deep pits in the Hudson Canyon indicated abnormally high levels of methane in water. The area is being studied by many scientists, including a group from Rutgers University.

17. What if?
The Hudson Canyon is a hub of trans-Atlantic fiber-optic telecommunications cables that connect our nation to the rest of the world.
Landslides here could break these cables and cut off our international communications.