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Scientists have created a new type of ice that could help geologists better understand the planet's inner workings, as well as combat climate change.

Named Ice XVI, it is the least dense of all known forms of ice and has a delicate cage-like structure that can trap gaseous molecules.

These molecules can be anything from methane to carbon dioxide, and are contained in 'clathrate' cages deep beneath the sea floor.

Researchers have unveiled a new solid phase of ice that's the lowest density known. The cage-like structure originally formed surrounding neon atoms (blue). The neon was removed (red lines) to uncover its composition

By uncovering the intricate structure of these clathrates, scientists hope they can use it for carbon capture and storage, by removing methane from the sea floor and replacing it with CO2.

Scientists at University of Göttingen in Germany and the Institut Laue Langevin in France suspected that the structure of an empty clathrate may look like, but up until now it was hypothetical.

This is because clathrates are wrapped around other atoms in a configuration too fragile to be untangled.

To separate the delicate clathrate cage from its guest molecules, scientists used vacuum pump, coupled with very low temperatures.

To separate the clathrate cage from its guest molecules, scientists used vacuum pump, coupled with very low temperatures. This image shows the reactor at the Institut Laue-Langevin where the research was conducted

They used neon atoms as the guest molecules, which, when exposed to the vacuum, were slowly drawn away without damaging the cage.

What was left was Ice XVI, which researchers hope to use to explore the intricate structure of a clathrate hydrate.

Thomas Hansen, one of the study authors and instrument scientist on D20 at the ILL, said: 'It is important to note that clathrates could also be formed with carbon dioxide gas which would create stable compounds on the ocean floor.

'This means there is a possibility we could extract methane and convert it to useful energy, and replace it with the CO2.

'In other words, we could pump CO2 down to the ocean floor as a replacement for the methane in the gas hydrates.

'The challenges involved would naturally be large and the feasibility has been called into question, but it remains an extremely intriguing possibility worth exploring

As well as its use in carbon capture and storage, the new ice may help when it comes to pumping natural gas, which often comes with clathrates.

Such research could help ease the flow of gas and oil through pipelines in low temperature environments, and open up untapped reservoirs of natural gas on the ocean floor.