Tag: UT Gulf of Mexico Methane Hydrates Expedition Blog
August 12, 2023
Exploring One of the Largest Carbon Caches on Earth
Today is my last day on the Helix Q4000, the offshore platform where The University of Texas at Austin-led science team is sampling and studying the methane hydrate reservoir system below. I’ve been out here a week – and it’s gone by fast! This blog isn’t the last of my writing about the…
Read MoreAugust 11, 2023
Holding Tight
Last night, Peter Flemings, the mission’s lead scientist and a professor at The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences, called the science team together. He wanted to make sure everyone was up to speed on the science and the mission progress – which had picked up…
Read MoreAugust 10, 2023
Cutting Core, Seeing Signposts
Earlier this week, I watched a core sample slide into the processing lab for the first time, the drill crew pushing it through a hole cut into the side of the shipping container that houses the lab. Surrounded by a clear plastic tube, the core…
Read MoreAugust 8, 2023
Progress from Delay
Over the past four days at sea, the science team has faced the following issues: The “T2P” – a temperature and pressure probe refined for the methane hydrate mission – was shelved after free-falling 6,500 feet to the bottom of the seafloor during a test run. The probe was supposed to…
Read MoreAugust 5, 2023
The Stuff of Life at Sea
The mission to recover methane hydrates has scientists set on recovering core samples of the substance from over 1,000 feet beneath the seafloor. To actually reach these samples requires the science team to live and work aboard a specialized…
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