BigInch, thanks for your answer. By the way my buddy asked the question, I don't think he's following the news closely and thought that the containment vessel had been plugged with (water) ice. Also, I'm pretty sure that whatever he was referring to was not a technical description. (But he can...
A friend who never studied engineering but is very curious sent me a blog entry, claiming that the methane being discharged from the BP blowout was cold enough to freeze seawater. I think someone is confusing water freezing with hydrate formation.
But I started wondering: What approach would...
