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6158041 
Book/Book Chapter 
Chapter Eight - Microbe, Mineral Synergy, and Seafloor Hydrate Nucleation 
Rogers, R 
2015 
Gulf Professional Publishing 
Boston 
Offshore Gas Hydrates 
249-296 
Gas hydrate formation is a crystallization process whereby structured water must coincide with guest gases in a timely manner at appropriate temperatures and pressures. This chapter begins by presenting laboratory findings that synthetic anionic surfactants catalyze hydrate crystal nucleation, greatly increasing rates and extents of hydrate formation. The discussion extends to offshore hydrate zones where similar hydrate promotion results from anionic surfactants produced by indigenous microbes active around methane carbon sources. The seafloor effects are profound. A synergy of microbes/minerals/hydrates in the seafloor is introduced, a phenomenon helping to account for the vastness of stored carbon in offshore hydrates. Discussed are multifaceted and intriguing microbial influences on formation, stability, and morphology of seafloor hydrates. Evaluations of Gulf of Mexico (GOM) core sediments, culturing of indigenous microbes for hydrate tests, extractions of seafloor hydrates, and their hydrate tests are detailed. 
anionic surfactants; biosurfactants; smectite platelets; ferromagnetic minerals; hydrate memory; surfactin; rhamnolipid; soil remediation 
Rogers, Rudy