Did gas release related to hydrate breakdown result in sinking of ships off the southeastern United States?
No, I don’t think so. Evidence suggests that the collapse and abrupt release of gas related to hydrate breakdown probably occurred at the end of the glacial episode when ocean water was tied up in great continental ice sheets and, thus, sea level was lowered. The lower sealevel caused the pressure on the gas hydrate at the sea floor to be reduced, which would cause hydrate breakdown and gas release. This happened about 15,000 years ago or more, when the more technically advanced men’s ships were probably nothing more than hollow logs. • Is there a mystery regarding sinking of ships in the Bermuda Triangle? No. I was involved in a television program called “The Bermuda Triangle” that was shown in Britain in about 1992 on Channel 4, the Equinox Programme and that was produced by John Simmons of Geofilms. At that time the producers checked with Lloyds of London to learn whether an unusually large number of ships had sunk in the triangle. They determined that large numbers of ships had not
