Gas hydrates in continental margin sediments are known or inferred worldwide, but are only well-studied and characterized in a few locations. In the Gulf of Mexico, gas hydrates have been identified as abundant surface mounds in much of the north-central Gulf, but evidence is essentially lacking for their existence deeper in the uppermost few hundred meters of sediment where they are expected to be stable. Much of the current interest in the Gulf of Mexico comes from the economic reality that conventional hydrocarbon exploration is moving into frontier deep-water areas, i.e., in regions where drilling will in all likelihood encounter and penetrate potential gas hydrate accumulations. Federal, academic, and industry efforts are converging in the Gulf to make it one of the best studied and characterized sites of hydrate occurrence. The US Geological Survey (USGS) program in the Gulf of Mexico has dual purposes: (1) to understand the relationships among gas hydrate occurrence, geologic framework, and active geologic processes; and (2) to integrate project results with extensive research that is being conducted by academic institutions and the exploration industry to find the answers to these fundamental questions regarding natural gas hydrate occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico. The initial phase of the USGS project has focused on three areas of the north-central Gulf where gas hydrates and active gas venting are well-known sea-floor features: the Mississippi Canyon, Green Canyon, and Garden Banks. These locations contain diverse geologic features (such as salt domes, deep faults, buried channels, and turbidite deposits) and evidence for active geologic processes (such as mass wasting, slumps, shallow-water flows, young faults, and fluid/gas venting). These settings offer a representative sampling of the complex environments in which to compare and understand gas hydrate occurrence.