That's called a clathrate --- Latin for a "cage, trellis, or grating" -- and all kinds of things can be held in there.    From Wordnik.com.  [Mother Of Storms]

Another method involves exchanging the methane molecules in the "clathrate" structure with carbon dioxide.    From Wordnik.com.  [PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories] Reference

When methane clathrate burns, it's the methane that 's burning.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Speculist: Fire and Ice -- The Risk] Reference

BGR (1998) reports global clathrate occurrences of more than 9,000.    From Wordnik.com.  [Chapter 9] Reference

The seabed is lousy with methane clathrate all over the high latitudes.    From Wordnik.com.  [Mother Of Storms]

If we have clathrate trouble then a big bubble could double it in a year.    From Wordnik.com.  [Unthreaded #16 « Climate Audit] Reference

There was an article in Science last month on the chemistry of clathrate formation.    From Wordnik.com.  [Scientist Discusses Latest Report of Rising Global Temperatures | Universe Today] Reference

As the polar ground thaws and the sea beds warm the subsurface clathrate starts to melt.    From Wordnik.com.  [Scientist Discusses Latest Report of Rising Global Temperatures | Universe Today] Reference

And the isotopes in the ice cores have a totally different story to tell, a clathrate story.    From Wordnik.com.  [IPCC 1990 – An Extended Excerpt « Climate Audit] Reference

What do we know about this strange strange substance that goes by the name methane clathrate?.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Speculist: Fire and Ice -- The Risk] Reference

Just a bit is from evaporating clathrate so far but remember the nature of the exponential…….    From Wordnik.com.  [Scientist Discusses Latest Report of Rising Global Temperatures | Universe Today] Reference

On the Arctic Ocean floor many clathrate beds are tens of meters thick and hundreds of kilometers across.    From Wordnik.com.  [Mother Of Storms]

Methane clathrate melts all the time, usually in small quantities that bubble up towards the ocean's surface.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Speculist: Fire and Ice -- The Risk] Reference

Another method involves exchanging the methane molecules in the “clathrate” structure with carbon dioxide.    From Wordnik.com.  [‘Ice That Burns’ May Provide Clean, Sustainable Fuel For The Future | Impact Lab] Reference

So, what happens if these "extremely large deposits" of methane clathrate frozen on the ocean floor begin to melt?.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Speculist: Fire and Ice -- The Risk] Reference

Then it might be clear that clathrate decomposition events may have a far greater impact on climate than expected.    From Wordnik.com.  [IPCC 1995 [SAR] – An Extended Excerpt « Climate Audit] Reference

Or other sources which we have not allowed for are increased enormously — the clathrate consumption one for example.    From Wordnik.com.  [Unthreaded #16 « Climate Audit] Reference

On the other hand, if you melt methane clathrate rather than burning it, you release methane gas itself into the atmosphere.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Speculist: Fire and Ice -- The Risk] Reference

This is making it clear that the clathrate decomposition started happening well before the land-slide, ultimately causing it.    From Wordnik.com.  [IPCC 1995 [SAR] – An Extended Excerpt « Climate Audit] Reference

With the increasing pressure in the ice caps CO2 starts to enter into a solid form of clathrate, at about 5 bars ~ 100 meters depth.    From Wordnik.com.  [KTH, Stockholm Conference « Climate Audit] Reference

Dr. Stephen Gillett, who taught me what a clathrate was and kept me poking at the science until he said, "Good enough to fool me, anyway.".    From Wordnik.com.  [Mother Of Storms]

Are there reports of its being involved in clathrate formation?.    From Wordnik.com.  [Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]] Reference

I will be interested in how the clathrate theory is elaborated.    From Wordnik.com.  [Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]] Reference

Howard, Pierre, Can we mention the clathrate evidence in the Lead, before the.    From Wordnik.com.  [Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]] Reference

For example, clathrate formation has been demonstrated without too much question.    From Wordnik.com.  [Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]] Reference

For example, clathrate formation has been demonstrated without too much question.    From Wordnik.com.  [Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]] Reference

Can we mention the clathrate evidence in the Lead, before the 'Introduction' section?.    From Wordnik.com.  [Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]] Reference

What makes you think that clathrate evidence has been accepted, or belongs in the lede?.    From Wordnik.com.  [Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]] Reference

Using betadex as a clathrate improves stability and prolongs shelf life of the product.    From Wordnik.com.  [Latest News from SYS-CON MEDIA] Reference

Collett estimates there is between 0.7 and 4.4 trillion cubic metres of methane clathrate in Alaska alone.    From Wordnik.com.  [New Scientist - Online News] Reference

In 2007, a US project found clathrate reserves in Alaska with 80 per cent of the ice's pore space packed with methane.    From Wordnik.com.  [New Scientist - Online News] Reference

The paper claimed that alkylamonium salt, a clathrate similar to the xenon hydrates, was stable up to 25º C (77º F).    From Wordnik.com.  [ArchivesBlogs] Reference

If unintentionally, what they had achieved was the first, and so far only, successful exploitation of methane clathrate.    From Wordnik.com.  [New Scientist - Online News] Reference

I see that the clathrate evidence has been accepted, so I hope you can mention the clathrate evidence in the Lead / Lede.    From Wordnik.com.  [Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]] Reference

And when methane melts, it appears to do so quickly -- there are signs that past methane clathrate events took less than a human lifetime.    From Wordnik.com.  [Warren Ellis] Reference