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Methane clathrate (CH 4 ·5.75H 2 O) or (4CH 4 ·23H 2 O), also called methane hydrate, hydromethane, methane ice, fire ice, natural gas hydrate, or gas hydrate, is a solid clathrate compound (more specifically, a clathrate hydrate) in which a large amount of methane is trapped within a crystal structure of water, forming a solid similar to ice.
Methane clathrate block embedded in the sediment of hydrate ridge, off Oregon, USA. Clathrate hydrates, or gas hydrates, clathrates, or hydrates, are crystalline water-based solids physically resembling ice, in which small non-polar molecules (typically gases) or polar molecules with large hydrophobic moieties are trapped inside "cages" of hydrogen bonded, frozen water molecules.
Methane clathrate, also known commonly as methane hydrate, is a form of water ice that contains a large amount of methane within its crystal structure. Potentially large deposits of methane clathrate have been found under sediments on the ocean floors of the Earth, although the estimates of total resource size given by various experts differ by ...
Clathrate cavities. For example, 5 12 (dodecahedral) and 5 12 6 2 (tetrakaidecahedral) make up a Type I (sI) structure. [4] Clathrates can be divided into two categories: clathrate hydrates and inorganic clathrates. Each clathrate is made up of a framework and guests that reside the framework.
An important example is methane hydrate (also known as gas hydrate, methane clathrate, etc.). Nonpolar molecules such as methane can form clathrate hydrates with water, especially under high pressure. Although there is no hydrogen bonding between water and guest molecules when methane is the guest molecule of the clathrate, guest–host ...
The existence and depth of a hydrate deposit is often indicated by the presence of a bottom-simulating reflector (BSR). A BSR is a seismic reflection indicating the lower limit of hydrate stability in sediments due to the different densities of hydrate saturated sediments, normal sediments and those containing free gas. [2]
The free gas zone is a zone of freed methane in a hydrate formation, beneath the hydrate stability zone. It can influence the rate of methane output at a ridge or ridge region. A large free gas zone makes more methane available to be released into the open ocean, and, thus, can likely be more influential on climate change than a smaller one. [11]
The worms colonize the methane ice and appear to survive by gleaning bacteria, which in turn metabolize the clathrate. In 1997, Charles Fisher, professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University, discovered the worm living on mounds of methane ice at a depth of half a mile (~800 m) on the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico. [2]