Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium
The Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium (GoMHRC) was established and administered by the Center for Marine Resources and Environmental Technology (CMRET) in order to coordinate efforts of hydrates researchers and to promote effective, efficient communication among them. Its primary objective, the design and emplacement of a remote monitoring station on the sea-floor in the northern Gulf of Mexico, provided the ability to monitor hydrates in situ. The site of the observatory, Mississippi Canyon 118 (MC 118), is about 100 miles south of Pascagoula, MS, and was chosen by consensus of the consortium and its funding agencies based on favorable hydrate conditions at the site. The site is dominated by a fault-derived canyon in the northeast and a carbonate mound approximately 1km in diameter to the south. The mound is composed of three crater complexes, as seen in the multibeam image (right). Please see the Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrates Sea-floor Observatory Project site by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) for more information.
