Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, accumulates in subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs. In the Arctic, impermeable icy permafrost and glacial overburden form a ‘cryosphere cap’ that traps gas leaking from these reservoirs, restricting flow to the atmosphere. We document the release of geologic methane t...
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:37985 2023-05-15T14:26:39+02:00 Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers Anthony, P. Walter Anthony, K. M. Grosse, Guido Chanton, J. P. 2014-12-19 https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/37985/ http://abstractsearch.agu.org/meetings/2014/FM/C53A-0296.html https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.45539 unknown AGU Anthony, P. , Walter Anthony, K. M. , Grosse, G. orcid:0000-0001-5895-2141 and Chanton, J. P. (2014) Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers , AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 15 December 2014 - 19 December 2014 . hdl:10013/epic.45539 EPIC3AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 2014-12-15-2014-12-19San Francisco, USA, AGU Conference notRev 2014 ftawi 2021-12-24T15:40:31Z Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, accumulates in subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs. In the Arctic, impermeable icy permafrost and glacial overburden form a ‘cryosphere cap’ that traps gas leaking from these reservoirs, restricting flow to the atmosphere. We document the release of geologic methane to the atmosphere from abundant gas seeps concentrated along boundaries of permafrost thaw and receding glaciers in Alaska. Through aerial and ground surveys we mapped >150,000 seeps identified as bubbling-induced open holes in lake ice. Subcap methane seeps had anomalously high fluxes, 14C-depletion, and stable isotope values matching known coalbed and thermogenic methane accumulations in Alaska. Additionally, we observed younger subcap methane seeps in Greenland that were associated with ice-sheet retreat since the Little Ice Age. These correlations suggest that in a warming climate, continued disintegration of permafrost, glaciers, and parts of the polar ice sheets will relax pressure on subsurface seals and further open conduits, allowing a transient expulsion of geologic methane currently trapped by the cryosphere cap. Conference Object Arctic Arctic glaciers Greenland Ice Ice Sheet permafrost Alaska Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) Arctic Greenland |
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Open Polar |
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Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) |
op_collection_id |
ftawi |
language |
unknown |
description |
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, accumulates in subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs. In the Arctic, impermeable icy permafrost and glacial overburden form a ‘cryosphere cap’ that traps gas leaking from these reservoirs, restricting flow to the atmosphere. We document the release of geologic methane to the atmosphere from abundant gas seeps concentrated along boundaries of permafrost thaw and receding glaciers in Alaska. Through aerial and ground surveys we mapped >150,000 seeps identified as bubbling-induced open holes in lake ice. Subcap methane seeps had anomalously high fluxes, 14C-depletion, and stable isotope values matching known coalbed and thermogenic methane accumulations in Alaska. Additionally, we observed younger subcap methane seeps in Greenland that were associated with ice-sheet retreat since the Little Ice Age. These correlations suggest that in a warming climate, continued disintegration of permafrost, glaciers, and parts of the polar ice sheets will relax pressure on subsurface seals and further open conduits, allowing a transient expulsion of geologic methane currently trapped by the cryosphere cap. |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Anthony, P. Walter Anthony, K. M. Grosse, Guido Chanton, J. P. |
spellingShingle |
Anthony, P. Walter Anthony, K. M. Grosse, Guido Chanton, J. P. Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers |
author_facet |
Anthony, P. Walter Anthony, K. M. Grosse, Guido Chanton, J. P. |
author_sort |
Anthony, P. |
title |
Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers |
title_short |
Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers |
title_full |
Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers |
title_fullStr |
Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers |
title_sort |
methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers |
publisher |
AGU |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/37985/ http://abstractsearch.agu.org/meetings/2014/FM/C53A-0296.html https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.45539 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Arctic glaciers Greenland Ice Ice Sheet permafrost Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic glaciers Greenland Ice Ice Sheet permafrost Alaska |
op_source |
EPIC3AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 2014-12-15-2014-12-19San Francisco, USA, AGU |
op_relation |
Anthony, P. , Walter Anthony, K. M. , Grosse, G. orcid:0000-0001-5895-2141 and Chanton, J. P. (2014) Methane seeps along boundaries of arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers , AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 15 December 2014 - 19 December 2014 . hdl:10013/epic.45539 |
_version_ |
1766299929627590656 |