Hydrate Ridge is an accretionary thrust clathrate hydrate formation, meaning it has been made of sediment scraped off of subducting oceanic plate. It is approx. 200 m (700 ft) high, and located 100 km (62 mi) offshore of Oregon.[1][2][3] At hydrate formations, methane is trapped in crystallized water structures. Such methane transforms into the gaseous phase and seeps into the ocean at this site, which has been a popular location of study since its discovery in 1986.[4] Hydrate Ridge also supports a methane-driven benthic community.[5]