1934, natural gas hydrate was discovered in the blocked natural gas pipeline in the former Soviet Union. The natural gas pipeline is blocked due to the formation of hydrate. This discovery attracted the attention of the former Soviet Union to natural gas hydrate.

1965, the former Soviet Union first discovered a gas hydrate deposit in the permafrost region of western Siberia, which attracted the attention of scientists from many countries.

1970, the former Soviet Union began commercial exploitation of natural gas hydrate deposits.

During the period of 1970, the international deep-sea drilling program (DSDP) conducted deep-sea drilling in the Black Plateau on the eastern continental margin of the United States. During the coring process of seabed sediments, it was found that the cold sediment cores hissed and bubbled for several hours. Marine geologists at that time were very puzzled. Later, I learned that the bubbles were generated by the decomposition of hydrate, and the sediment cores they took from the seabed actually contained hydrate.

197 1 year, American scholar stoll and others first discovered marine natural gas hydrate in deep-sea drilling cores, and formally put forward the concept of "natural gas hydrate".

1974, the former Soviet Union discovered ice-like crystal samples of natural gas hydrate in the Black Sea 1950 meters.

1979, DSDP conducted deep-sea drilling in the Gulf of Mexico on voyages 66 and 67, and obtained 9 1.24m gas hydrate cores from the seabed, which verified the existence of submarine gas hydrate deposits for the first time.

198 1 year, DSDP plans to take out a 3-foot-long hydrate core from the seabed with the drilling ship "Groma Challenger".

1992, ODP 146 voyage obtained natural gas hydrate cores in Cascadia Plateau on the western continental margin of Oregon, USA.

During the period of 1995, ODP voyage 164 carried out a series of deep-sea drilling in the black plateau in the eastern waters of the United States, and obtained a large number of hydrate cores, which proved the commercial development value of the deposit for the first time.

During the period of 1997, the expedition team of Ocean Drilling Program completed the direct hydrate measurement and seabed observation for the first time on the black platform off the coast of South Carolina, USA. In the same year, ODP carried out deep-sea drilling in the continental slope area of Juan-Devka mid-ocean ridge on the west coast of Canada, and obtained natural gas hydrate cores. So far, DSDP led by the United States and its successor ODP have discovered large-scale gas hydrate accumulation in the 10 deep sea area: the continental slope of the Peruvian trench, the continental slope of the Central American trench (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico), the southeast Atlantic of the United States, the western Pacific of the United States, the two seas of Japan, the offshore of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.

During 1996 and 1999, German and American scientists collected hissing white hydrate massive samples from the seabed sediments of Cascadia platform off the coast of Oregon, USA, which could be ignited and emit a raging flame.

During 1998, Japan cooperated with Canada to drill hydrate in Mackenzie Delta in northwest Canada, and obtained 37m hydrate cores at a depth of 890 ~ 952m. The drilling depth is1150m, which is the first well to study natural gas hydrate in high latitude permafrost zone.

1999, Japan excavated natural gas hydrate that looked like wet snow off the coast of Tamazaki Island in Shizuoka Prefecture.