Methane clathrate
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Methane clathrate or, also called methane hydrate, hydromethane, methane ice, fire ice, natural gas hydrate, methane gas, or gas hydrate, is a solid clathrate compound in which a large amount of metha
"Burning ice". Methane, released by heating, burns; water drips. Inset: clathrate structure (University of Göttingen, GZG. Abt. Kristallographie). Source: United States Geological Survey.
microscope image
Methane hydrate phase diagram. The horizontal axis shows temperature from −15 to 33 °C, the vertical axis shows pressure from 0 to 120,000 kilopascals (0 to 1,184 atmospheres). Hydrate forms above the line. For example, at 4 °C hydrate forms above a pressure of about 50 atm/5000 kPa, found at about 500 m sea depth.
Gas hydrate-bearing sediment, from the subduction zone off Oregon
Methane
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Methane is a chemical compound that has the chemical formula CH4. It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes it an
Methane bubbles can be burned on a wet hand without injury.
Global methane budget (2017). Shows natural sources and sinks (green), anthropogenic sources (orange), and mixed natural and anthropogenic sources (hatched orange-green for 'biomass and biofuel burning').
![Abiotic sources of methane[example needed] have been found in more than 20 countries and in several deep ocean regions so far.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Origins_of_Biotic_and_Abiotic_Methane.jpg/500px-Origins_of_Biotic_and_Abiotic_Methane.jpg)
Abiotic sources of methane[example needed] have been found in more than 20 countries and in several deep ocean regions so far.
Testing Australian sheep for exhaled methane production (2001), CSIRO