2018 Natural Gas Hydrate Systems: Gordon Research Conference

海洋环境中的天然甲烷水合物是全球甲烷的主要来源，已知与大陆斜坡上的沉积物流失有关，可能影响到电信电缆和其他基础设施以及渔业生境。它们还可能在石油和天然气威尔斯钻井期间引起井喷，造成生命损失和工业投资的重大损失。天然气水合物也是天然气的一个主要来源，将来可能成为重要的甲烷资源，当它们随着海底变暖而分解时，也可能促使温室气体在大气中聚集。虽然在过去的二十年里，对这些独特的矿物进行了大量的研究，但很明显，我们对它们的动态及其对各种环境强迫的反应的理解是不够的。这笔资金为早期职业科学家提供支持，以参加位于同一地点的第五届戈登天然气水合物系统研究会议及其同伴戈登天然气水合物会议研究研讨会。来自太平洋西北部俄勒冈州和温哥华岛的海洋电缆观测站的新数据将被讨论，来自日本、中国和印度的新发现也将被讨论。其他议题包括寒冷地区的天然气运输和海洋沉积物天然气水合物油田开发的挑战。该基金的更广泛影响包括支持早期职业科学家，重点是让那些在科学领域代表性不足的人参与进来，并为能源行业专业人士和学者之间的网络和正在进行的研究的想法和信息交流提供场所。海洋甲烷水合物广泛存在于海洋沉积物中。 它们是短暂的矿物，仅在小范围的低温和高压条件下稳定。 海洋甲烷气体水合物由于减压（例如，在钻孔期间）或海底温度升高（例如，由于气候变化导致海洋温度升高），这使它们脱离了热力学稳定场。这笔资金提供资金，以支持美国早期职业研究人员参加在得克萨斯州加尔维斯顿举行的国际天然气水合物系统戈登研究会议和研究研讨会。主题包括介绍新的数据和研究，并讨论影响甲烷气体水合发生，分布和溶解的动力学和强迫。在过去的二十年中，进行了许多实地和实验室研究，以确定这些参数的特征;但是，仍然不清楚有多少对天然气水合物的作用力起作用和相互联系，以及在不同的条件下，哪些和在什么情况下起控制作用。本次研讨会旨在将来自学术界和工业界的天然气水合物专家的国际知识库聚集在一起，分享他们最近的研究成果，并讨论挑战和可能的前进道路，以大大提高我们对海洋甲烷水合物生成和行为的理解。

Natural methane gas hydrates that occur in the marine environment comprise a major source of global methane and are known to be associated with sediment failure on continental slopes that can impact telecommunication cables and other infrastructure as well as fishery habitats. They can also cause blow-outs during the drilling of oil and gas wells, causing loss of life and significant loss of industry investment. Gas hydrates also comprise a major source of natural gas that could form an important methane resource in the future and, when they disintegrate as the seafloor warms, may also contribute to the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Although there have been numerous studies of these unique minerals over the last two decades, it is clear that our understanding of their dynamics and their response to various environmental forcings is inadequate. This funding provides support to early career scientists to attend the co-located Fifth Gordon Research Conference on natural gas hydrate systems and its companion Gordon Conference Research Seminar on gas hydrates. New data emerging from marine cabled observatories in the Pacific Northwest off Oregon and Vancouver Island will be discussed as will new findings from Japan, China, and India. Other topics include natural gas transport in cold regions and challenges in the development of marine sediment gas hydrate fields. Broader impacts of the funding include support of early career scientists, focusing on engaging those underrepresented in the sciences, and providing a venue for networking and an exchange of ideas and information on on-going research between energy industry professionals and academics. Marine methane gas hydrates occur widely in marine sediments. They are ephemeral minerals that are stable at conditions of only small ranges of low temperatures and higher-pressure conditions. Marine methane gas hydrates are susceptible to rapid and catastrophic dissolution as a result of depressurization (e.g., during borehole drilling) or subseafloor increases in temperature (e.g., due to increasing ocean temperature due to climate change), which moves them out of their thermodynamic stability field. This funding provides funds to support the attendance of early career US researchers at the international gas hydrate system Gordon Research Conference and Research Seminar in Galveston, Texas. Topics include presentations on new data and research and discussions of the dynamics and forcings that impact methane gas hydrated occurrence, distribution, and dissolution. Over the last two decades, many field and laboratory studies have been carried out to characterize these parameters; however, it is still not clear how many of the forcings on gas hydrates operate and are linked and which, and in what setting, are controlling under different conditions. This workshop is constituted to bring the international intellectual pool of experts on gas hydrates from academia and industry together to share results of their most recent research and discuss challenges and possible ways forward to dramatically improve our understanding a marine methane gas hydrate generation and behavior.