2018 Natural Gas Hydrate Systems: Gordon Research Conference

出现在海洋环境中的天然气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崩塌有关，可能影响电信电缆和其他基础设施以及渔业生境。它们还可能在油气井钻探过程中造成井喷，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主要来源，未来可能成为重要的甲烷资源，当它们随着海底变暖而解体时，还可能导致大气中温室气体的集中。尽管在过去20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压力的反应的了解还不够充分。这笔资金支持早期职业科学家参加共同举办的关于天然气水合物系统的第五次戈登研究会议及其配套的关于天然气水合物的戈登会议研究研讨会。俄勒冈州和温哥华岛附近太平洋西北部的海洋电缆观测站的新数据将被讨论，日本、中国和印度的新发现也将被讨论。其他主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气田开发面临的挑战。这笔资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界代表性不足的人参与进来，并为能源行业专业人员和学者之间正在进行的研究提供联网和交流想法和信息的场所。海洋甲烷气体水合物广泛存在于海洋沉积物中。它们是短暂的矿物，在低温和高压条件下只在很小的范围内稳定。海洋甲烷气体水合物容易由于减压(例如在钻井期间)或海底以下温度升高(例如气候变化引起的海洋温度升高)而迅速和灾难性地溶解，从而使其脱离其热力学稳定区。这笔资金用于支持职业生涯早期的美国研究人员参加在德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，研究和讨论影响甲烷水合物的发生、分布和溶解的动力学和作用力。在过去二十年中，开展了许多实地和实验室研究，以确定这些参数的特征；然而，仍然不清楚有多少对天然气水合物的强制作用在不同的条件下起作用和联系，以及在什么情况下进行控制。这个研讨会的目的是让来自学术界和工业界的天然气水合物方面的国际知识库专家聚集在一起，分享他们最新的研究成果，并讨论挑战和可能的前进途径，以极大地提高我们对海洋甲烷天然气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.