Mechanisms for Generation of Hydrates

Similarly, if channels are available, biogenic gas may migrate to regions within the hydrate stability envelope. Most of the gas was of biogenic origin in the hydrate core recovered from the Northwest Eileen State Well Number 2, one of the first wells to recover hydrates (Collett, 1983). The biogenic source is likely to predominate for hydrates in permafrost (Kvenvolden, Personal Communication, 

October 19,1988), in addition to biogenic dominance in ocean hydrates (Dillon and Max, 2000), with sporadic mixtures of biogenic and thermogenic gas in Alaska, Russia, offshore Canada, and the Gulf of Mexico. It is possible to have both means (in place generation and fast fluxes) of supplying biogenic gas, indicated by Kvenvolden et al. (1984) and Kvenvolden and Claypool (1985) at DSDP Site 570 in the Middle America Trench. 

---