Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls
Hundreds of plumes of methane bubbles, first observed in 2008, emanate from an area of the seabed off West Svalbard that has become 1 degrees C warmer over the past 30 years. The distribution of the plumes, lying close to and upslope from the present upper limit of the methane hydrate stability zone...
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Online Access: | https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/22838.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009605 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/ |
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ftarchimer:oai:archimer.ifremer.fr:24779 2023-05-15T15:15:15+02:00 Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls Thatcher, K. E. Westbrook, Graham Sarkar, S. Minshull, T. A. 2013-01 application/pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/22838.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009605 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/ eng eng Amer Geophysical Union https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/22838.pdf doi:10.1029/2012JB009605 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/ 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use Journal Of Geophysical Research-solid Earth (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2013-01 , Vol. 118 , N. 1 , P. 22-38 methane hydrate gas emission Arctic warming geological controls thermal history text Publication info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2013 ftarchimer https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009605 2021-09-23T20:23:00Z Hundreds of plumes of methane bubbles, first observed in 2008, emanate from an area of the seabed off West Svalbard that has become 1 degrees C warmer over the past 30 years. The distribution of the plumes, lying close to and upslope from the present upper limit of the methane hydrate stability zone, indicates that methane in the plumes could come from warming-induced hydrate dissociation, a process commonly invoked as contributing to rapid climate change. We used numerical modeling to investigate the response of hydrate beneath the seabed to changes in bottom-water temperature over periods of up to 1000 years B. P. The delay between the onset of warming and emission of gas, resulting from the time taken for thermal diffusion, hydrate dissociation, and gas migration, can be less than 30 years in water depths shallower than the present upper limit of the methane hydrate stability zone, where hydrate was initially several meters beneath the seabed and fractures increase the effective permeability of intrinsically low-permeability glacigenic sediment. At the rates of warming of the seabed that have occurred over the past two centuries, the enthalpy of hydrate dissociation limits the rate of gas release to moderate values. Cycles of warming and cooling can create and sustain hydrate close to the seabed where there is locally a supply of methane of tens of mol.m(-2) yr(-1). This rate of gas flow can be achieved where stratigraphic and structural heterogeneity focus gas migration, although the regional rate of methane supply could be much less. Citation: Thatcher, K. E., G. K. Westbrook, S. Sarkar, and T. A. Minshull (2013), Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 118, 22-38, doi:10.1029/2012JB009605. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Methane hydrate Svalbard Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) Arctic Svalbard Westbrook ENVELOPE(-75.442,-75.442,-71.841,-71.841) Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 118 1 22 38 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) |
op_collection_id |
ftarchimer |
language |
English |
topic |
methane hydrate gas emission Arctic warming geological controls thermal history |
spellingShingle |
methane hydrate gas emission Arctic warming geological controls thermal history Thatcher, K. E. Westbrook, Graham Sarkar, S. Minshull, T. A. Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls |
topic_facet |
methane hydrate gas emission Arctic warming geological controls thermal history |
description |
Hundreds of plumes of methane bubbles, first observed in 2008, emanate from an area of the seabed off West Svalbard that has become 1 degrees C warmer over the past 30 years. The distribution of the plumes, lying close to and upslope from the present upper limit of the methane hydrate stability zone, indicates that methane in the plumes could come from warming-induced hydrate dissociation, a process commonly invoked as contributing to rapid climate change. We used numerical modeling to investigate the response of hydrate beneath the seabed to changes in bottom-water temperature over periods of up to 1000 years B. P. The delay between the onset of warming and emission of gas, resulting from the time taken for thermal diffusion, hydrate dissociation, and gas migration, can be less than 30 years in water depths shallower than the present upper limit of the methane hydrate stability zone, where hydrate was initially several meters beneath the seabed and fractures increase the effective permeability of intrinsically low-permeability glacigenic sediment. At the rates of warming of the seabed that have occurred over the past two centuries, the enthalpy of hydrate dissociation limits the rate of gas release to moderate values. Cycles of warming and cooling can create and sustain hydrate close to the seabed where there is locally a supply of methane of tens of mol.m(-2) yr(-1). This rate of gas flow can be achieved where stratigraphic and structural heterogeneity focus gas migration, although the regional rate of methane supply could be much less. Citation: Thatcher, K. E., G. K. Westbrook, S. Sarkar, and T. A. Minshull (2013), Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 118, 22-38, doi:10.1029/2012JB009605. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thatcher, K. E. Westbrook, Graham Sarkar, S. Minshull, T. A. |
author_facet |
Thatcher, K. E. Westbrook, Graham Sarkar, S. Minshull, T. A. |
author_sort |
Thatcher, K. E. |
title |
Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls |
title_short |
Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls |
title_full |
Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls |
title_fullStr |
Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls |
title_full_unstemmed |
Methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the West Svalbard continental margin: Timing, rates, and geological controls |
title_sort |
methane release from warming-induced hydrate dissociation in the west svalbard continental margin: timing, rates, and geological controls |
publisher |
Amer Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/22838.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009605 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-75.442,-75.442,-71.841,-71.841) |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Westbrook |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Westbrook |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Methane hydrate Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Methane hydrate Svalbard |
op_source |
Journal Of Geophysical Research-solid Earth (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2013-01 , Vol. 118 , N. 1 , P. 22-38 |
op_relation |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/22838.pdf doi:10.1029/2012JB009605 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24779/ |
op_rights |
2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009605 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth |
container_volume |
118 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
22 |
op_container_end_page |
38 |
_version_ |
1766345625393168384 |