If you would like to place information relating to ODP and CanadaODP on our home page or would like us to hot link to another geoscience site, please contact the Secretariat. For information about gas-hydrate research you can contact him at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Leg 164 was the first leg of the ODP dedicated to the drilling of gas hydrates. In submarine hydrate zones the ground is partially frozen by the hydrate ice. The gas in the ice structure is predominantly methane.
Gas hydrate zones are also widespread in the Canadian Arctic under the permafrost.
Enormous volumes of natural gas are stored in these hydrate zones, both on land and under the sea. The interest of the earth science community in gas hydrates also stems from the speculation that hydrate zones may be vulnerable to climate warming and may melt in part, releasing vast quantities of methane and generating a positive feedback to greenhouse warming. Leg 164 drilled 7 sites on the Carolina Rise and Blake Ridge in water depths between 2,500 and 3,000 m. The drill was first lowered in a pock- mark with a living chemogenic community. This result enabled us to estimate the concentration of gas hydrates in the up to 250 m thick hydrate-bearing section.