New findings on gas hydrates in the Sea of Okhotsk (CHAOS-II), an adjoining sea of the East Sea

Abstract

The area of focused fluid venting offshore NE was investigated during the CHAOS-II (Hydro-Carbon Hydrate Accumulations in the Okhotsk Sea) expedition onboard of RV "Akademik Lavrentyev" in the period of 20 May to 10 June 2005. The International Research Project CHAOS-II (Russian-Korean-Japanese) aimed at the study of gas hydrate formation processes associated with the fluid venting in the Sea of Okhotsk. Several new gas hydrate accumulations were discovered during the cruise. Hydrate-associated structures have been named as KOPRI, VNIIOkeangeologia, POI and KIT (the names of cruise participant institutes). Some of hydrate-bearing cores contain big amount of gas hydrates: massive gas hydrate layers (up to 35 cm thick) were recovered. The shallowest submarine gas hydrate accumulations in the world (at the depth less then 400 m) were discovered during the cruise.