Monitoring the rate at which these deposits accumulate or dissolve could provide very useful information to climate models, and help understand the buffering role of methane hydrates. Finally, many methane hydrate deposits have been found near offshore plate subduction zones. I believe there may be a link between the location of these deposits and the fluids that are being heated, pressurized and driven out of the saturated downgoing slab. Monitoring subduction-zone hydrates might give a clue to the fluid flow system in a subducting plate, and how that is related to subduction rates, depth and magnitude of earthquakes, and chemistry of upwelling magma at subduction volcanic chains. Earthquake mechanisms and prediction Earthquake seismologists believe that fluid flow has an important role in how frequent and how strong earthquakes occur.
Fluids can lubricate fault surfaces making it easier for an earthquake to occur.
Highly pressurized pore-fluid in a fault region might indicate that an earthquake is about to occur. Pore pressure increases cause seismic velocity decreases which might be monitorable over time. I can imagine a seismic monitoring experiment consisting of a small array of geophones on one side of the San Andreas, and a shot location on the other. This type of seismic monitoring might help to better understand the earthquake mechanism along a fault, and perhaps be useful as a tool to predict when an earthquake is about to occur. I would be pleased to interact with other researchers who have an interest in any of these topics.