China's scientists first discovered bare "flammable ice" in the South China Sea

On September 22, the "Science" of China's new generation of ocean-going comprehensive examination ship was first discovered in the marine pioneering project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It discovered for the first time in China's South China Sea that natural gas hydrates that were exposed on the sea floor were "flammable ice." This result was published online on the 22nd in Beijing in the international authoritative academic journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Earth Systemology.

Through deep-sea laser Raman spectroscopy probes carried by the “Uncovered” unmanned submersible, the scientific expedition team detected the existence of gas hydrates that were exposed on the seabed at two sites in the deep seabed of about 1,100 meters in the South China Sea. For the first time, the “flammable ice” exposed on the sea floor was discovered in the South China Sea.

According to reports, one of the stations is located in the cold spring energy extreme bio-community, and the dynamically synthesized and decomposed natural gas hydrates can provide methane and other energy sources for deep-sea extreme life; another gas hydrate site is located on the inner wall of an active cold-spring spout. .

The scientific expedition team conducted an on-site detection of exposed natural gas hydrates at a depth of more than 1,000 meters through an independently developed Raman spectroscopic probe. The data shows that the rapidly generated natural gas hydrate is not a single cage structure, and there are a large number of free gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide inside. This is the first time that the in-situ Raman spectroscopy data have been used to confirm this scientific conclusion.

According to reports, natural gas hydrates are generally distributed in deep-sea sediments or continental permafrost, and natural gas hydrates that are exposed on the surface of the seabed require a large number of deep-sea cold-spring fluids as gas sources. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to exist, and its formation and decomposition are studied. An excellent natural test site for the formation of reservoirs and interaction mechanisms with the marine environment. (Shuai Jun)