1.   At these depths, low temperature and high pressure allow methane to combine with water to form solid methane hydrates.

2.   But, until three decades ago, nobody knew that the oceans held deposits of methane hydrate, as the crystals are called.

3.   It would take a major change in the ocean system to knock methane hydrate from the cold deep where it resides.

4.   Methane hydrate looks a lot like ice, a crystal structure of methane gas surrounded by water molecules.

5.   Methane hydrates are ice-like substances found in deep ocean sediments and Arctic permafrost that contain methane in a highly concentrated form.

6.   The methane within Blake ridge is contained in tiny bubbles and as a solid called methane hydrate.