Significant methane undersaturation during austral summer in the Ross Sea (Southern Ocean)

Abstract Methane (CH 4 ) is a climate‐relevant trace gas that is emitted from the open and coastal oceans in considerable amounts. However, its distribution in remote oceanic areas is largely unknown. To fill this knowledge gap, dissolved CH 4 was measured at nine stations at 75°S in the Ross Sea du...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Limnology and Oceanography Letters
Main Authors: Ye, Wangwang, Arévalo‐Martínez, Damian L., Li, Yuhong, Wen, Jianwen, He, Hailun, Zhang, Jiexia, Liu, Jian, Wu, Man, Zhan, Liyang
Other Authors: National Natural Science Foundation of China
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023
Subjects:
Austral
Ross Sea
Southern Ocean
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10315
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lol2.10315
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/lol2.10315
https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lol2.10315
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Summary:Abstract Methane (CH 4 ) is a climate‐relevant trace gas that is emitted from the open and coastal oceans in considerable amounts. However, its distribution in remote oceanic areas is largely unknown. To fill this knowledge gap, dissolved CH 4 was measured at nine stations at 75°S in the Ross Sea during austral summer in January 2020. CH 4 undersaturation (mean: 82 ± 20%) was found throughout the water column. In subsurface waters, the distribution of CH 4 mainly resulted from mixing of water masses and in situ consumption, whereas the CH 4 concentrations in the surface mixed layer were mainly driven by air–sea exchange and diapycnal diffusion between the surface and subsurface layers, as well as consumption of CH 4 . With a mean air–sea CH 4 flux density of −0.44 ± 0.34 μ mol m −2 d −1 , the Ross Sea was a substantial sink for atmospheric CH 4 during austral summer, which is in contrast with most oceanic regions, which are known sources.

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