There are only a few natural methane hydrates in the Mediterranean

Natural methane hydrates in the Mediterranean Sea are less widespread than one might think. This is shown in a study published in the journal Geology, involving researchers from OGS, the University of Trieste and the University of Oxford, which explains how this is due to the presence of Messinian salt deposits in the basin's subsurface and the peculiar distribution of heat both in the water and in the subsurface.

Knowledge of the distribution of methane in hydrated form in the seabed is of great importance for understanding the evolution of the Earth's climate, the geological vulnerability of the seabed and the energy resources of unconventional hydrocarbons. In the Mediterranean, where huge methane gas reserves are known to exist, large quantities of methane hydrate in solid state should accumulate in the near-surface areas of the seabed. However, no methane hydrates have ever been identified in previous scientific investigations.

The study published in the journal of the American Geological Society, based on the application of a simulation model, shows that this resource is difficult to accumulate in the seabed of the Mediterranean Sea and that its presence is severely limited by the high salt concentrations in the subsurface.