Livio Ruffine is a research scientist at the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer) in Brest, France. His research interests focus on the oceanic methane cycle, with an emphasis on the geochemical dynamics of gas-hydrate deposits.

Daniel Broseta is Professor and member of the Laboratory of Complex Fluids and their Reservoirs at the University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour in France. His research interests are in interfacial and colloidal phenomena.

Arnaud Desmedt is a CNRS researcher at the Institute of Molecular Science at the University of Bordeaux in France. His main research interests are molecular spectroscopy (experimental and modelling) applied to inclusion chemistry and fundamental issues on clathrate hydrates.

L. Ruffine, French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea, Brest, France; D. Broseta, University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour, France; D. Desmedt, University of Bordeaux, France