28.07.2011                      26.Tammus, 5771

Entdeckung:

Potential to dwarf Leviathan? / Scientists find shallow water holds gas seeps

The Leviathan natural gas field, for the sake of comparison to natural gas discoveries deep in the Mediterranean Sea, lies 5,200 meters below sea-level, at a water depth of 1,680 meters.

The natural gas discoveries deep in the Mediterranean Sea could be just the start, say researchers at Haifa University, who recently revealed a large number of natural gas seeps in shallow water as well. They suspect there may be a vast amount of gas down there. Whether it can be tapped is another matter.
The scientists have yet to elucidate the source of the seeps, though they suspect it originates in hydrates – methane trapped in ice at the bottom of the sea. Seeps have been detected up to 10 kilometers off Israel's coastline, mainly by Acre, the Tel Aviv area and Ashdod. The depth at some of these points is just 40 to 50 meters, and the seeps were discovered just 10 meters below the seabed….