Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: More than 250 plumes of gas bubbles have been discovered emanating from the seabed of the West Spitsbergen continental margin, in a depth range of 150–400 m, at and above the present upper limit of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). Some of the plumes extend upward to within 50 m of the sea surface. The gas is predominantly methane. Warming of the northward‐flowing West Spitsbergen current by 1°C over the last thirty years is likely to have increased the release of methane from the seabed by reducing the extent of the GHSZ, causing the liberation of methane from decomposing hydrate. If this process becomes widespread along Arctic continental margins, tens of Teragrams of methane per year could be released into the ocean.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2009gl039191
Authors: Graham K. Westbrook, Kate E. Thatcher, Eelco J. Rohling, Alexander M. Piotrowski, Heiko Pälike, Anne H. Osborne, Euan G. Nisbet, Tim A. Minshull, Mathias Lanoisellé, Rachael H. James, Veit Hühnerbach, Darryl Green, Rebecca E. Fisher, Anya J. Crocker, Anne Chabert, Clara Bolton, Agnieszka Beszczynska‐Möller, Christian Berndt, Alfred Aquilina
Institutions: University of Birmingham, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, University of Cambridge, University of Bristol, University of London, Royal Holloway University of London, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Chemistry
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
OpenAlex ID: W2145003062