Developing a site survey for scientific ocean drilling on the Mauritanian continental margin

Large volumes of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, are stored on continental margins in shallow waters (e.g. <500m). These deposits, referred to as methane hydrates are widespread on continental margins and are considered to be one of the largest methane reservoirs that naturally exist. There is evidence from the geological record on the Mauritanian continental margin that potentially large volumes of methane have been released as a result of the methane hydrate destabilisation due to past increases in ocean temperatures and this will have entered the oceans and perhaps the atmosphere. The release of methane from hydrates during a warming world has been suggested previously be an important mechanism for changing the chemistry of the oceans and amplifying climatic change.

The proposed project here will identify candidate scientific drilling sites to investigate the potential contribution that different climatic changes and different escape pathways might have on methane hydrate systems. The International Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP) is focused on addressing key questions about the Earth's history, in particular, understanding the connections between components of the Earth systems. This project will identify specific sites where scientific ocean drilling could provide the required data to understand in detail, the distribution of gas hydrates and how such a system responds to climatic shifts.