High-pressure structures of methane hydrate observed up to 8 GPa at room temperature

Three high-pressure structures of methane hydrate, a hexagonal structure (str.A) and two orthorhombic structures (str.B and str.C), were found by in situ x-ray diffractometry and Raman spectroscopy. The well-known structure I (str.I) decomposed into the str.A and fluid at 0.8 GPa. The str.A transformed into the str.B at 1.6 GPa, and the str.B further transformed into the str.C at 2.1 GPa which survived above 7.8 GPa. The fluid solidified as ice VI at 1.4 GPa, and the ice VI transformed to ice VII at 2.1 GPa. The structural changes occurring with increasing pressure were observed reversibly with decreasing pressure. The symmetric stretching vibration, nu (1), of the methane molecule observed in the Raman spectra changed along with the structural changes. The bulk moduli, K-0, for the str.I, str.A, and str.C were calculated to be 7.4, 9.8, and 25.0 GPa, respectively. The difference in the bulk moduli implies the difference in fundamental structure of the high-pressure structures. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.