Offshore staff
(Los Angeles) - Geologists conducting a survey off the Southern California coast found something they weren't looking for - frozen methane. The deposit, found on an active fault zone in the Santa Monica basin, lies approximately 15 mi off the coast and at a depth of nearly 2,600 ft. It is a newly discovered find at the base of an undersea mud volcano.
While methane hydrate deposits have been found around the world, the ecosystem surrounding this particular find is different. According to Jim Hein, a marine geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, scientists found clams and seashells with unique chemical characteristics, suggesting the area experienced an extreme flux of methane mixing water.
What this find shares with the other deposits is a lack of immediately-available technology to mine it. If the technology is found, scientists estimate that the methane trapped in frozen hydrates could power the globe for centuries.
While methane hydrates offer the potential for vast amounts of energy, environmental and business concerns linger, particularly for the Southern California find. Mining this deposit poses challenges due to its proximity to shipping lanes from Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Environmentalists worry about mining for hydrates, which contain three times the amount of methane than is currently found in the atmosphere. Some scientists say releasing it could adversely affect the climate.
1/29/06
