Title

Gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2009

Abstract

"Interest in the Gulf of Mexico has been greatly accelerated in the past decade, and there is much evidence that this interest will continue, which should result in the eventual solution of many of the present riddles of the Gulf of Mexico." When S. A. Lynch wrote these words half a century ago (Lynch 1954, p. 83), gas hydrates were not anticipated as one of the "riddles" of the Gulf of Mexico. The occurrence of gas hydrates in the Gulf was first predicted in 1979, when key indicators in seismic data suggested their presence (Shipley et al. 1979a). Samples of these elusive materials were not discovered in the Gulf until about 1983 when hydrate was recovered in cores and dredges in the Green Canyon area (Brooks et al. 1984; Kennicutt et al. 1985). Since these first discoveries in the Gulf, studies have expanded rapidly; now the Gulf is one of the best-studied natural laboratories for understanding seafloor gas hydrate mounds and marine gas hydrate occurrence within a leaky world-class petroleum system. Copyright © 2011 by Texas A&M University Press. All rights reserved.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota: Volume III, Geology

First Page

247

Last Page

275

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