Finding and Using the World’s Gas Hydrates

For the past 50 years, gas hydrates have been regarded by scientists as part of the hydrocarbon reserves, particularly at governmental institutions. A better understanding of the processes controlling the distribution and dynamics of gas hydrates in nature, especially their sensitivity to changes in gas composition, pressure and temperature, requires both theoretical knowledge of their stability and dynamic behavior and knowledge of how gas hydrates form and where they occur in the sediment. Geophysical data, geochemical data and thermodynamic models indicate that both the rate of response and the total integrated response to climate change in the ocean depend on the location and forms in which hydrates are distributed. Thus, mapping gas hydrates by indirect geophysical methods or through dedicated drilling campaigns is fundamental to all research involving gas hydrates. This includes studies of their role in climate change, their consequences for slope stability, their role at the base of the food web for benthic ecosystems and their potential as a future energy resource. Here we provide a brief introduction to the occurrence of gas hydrates on Earth, and how this information may assist in detecting them on other planetary bodies.