It looks like ice.

It feels like ice.

But if you bring it to the surface and expose it to the right conditions, it can burn.

Deep beneath the ocean floor, enormous deposits of methane hydrate—sometimes called methane ice—trap methane gas inside a crystal structure made of water.

It is one of the strangest materials found beneath Earth's oceans.

INTRO

Imagine digging into the ocean floor and finding something that looks like ordinary ice.

You pick it up.

Then it begins to release gas.

And under the right conditions, that gas can actually catch fire.

This isn't science fiction.

It's methane hydrate.

Deep beneath the seafloor, pressure and low temperatures can allow water molecules to form cage-like structures around methane molecules.

The result is a soli ...