Large Earthquakes in Subduction Zones around the Polar Regions as a Possible Reason for Rapid Climate Warming in the Arctic and Glacier Collapse in West Antarctica
A correlation is observed between changes in the level of Earth’s seismic activity and increments of the atmospheric methane concentration over the past 40 years. Trigger mechanisms are proposed for methane emissions and glacier collapse in polar regions. These mechanisms are due to deformation wave...
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2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13060171 https://doaj.org/article/0a76eb1199ef4feeb684714c1d725a15 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0a76eb1199ef4feeb684714c1d725a15 2023-07-23T04:15:46+02:00 Large Earthquakes in Subduction Zones around the Polar Regions as a Possible Reason for Rapid Climate Warming in the Arctic and Glacier Collapse in West Antarctica Leopold I. Lobkovsky Alexey A. Baranov Igor A. Garagash Mukamay M. Ramazanov Irina S. Vladimirova Yurii V. Gabsatarov Dmitry A. Alekseev Igor P. Semiletov 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13060171 https://doaj.org/article/0a76eb1199ef4feeb684714c1d725a15 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/13/6/171 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263 doi:10.3390/geosciences13060171 2076-3263 https://doaj.org/article/0a76eb1199ef4feeb684714c1d725a15 Geosciences, Vol 13, Iss 171, p 171 (2023) climate warming Arctic Antarctica permafrost metastable gas hydrates methane emission Geology QE1-996.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13060171 2023-07-02T00:38:14Z A correlation is observed between changes in the level of Earth’s seismic activity and increments of the atmospheric methane concentration over the past 40 years. Trigger mechanisms are proposed for methane emissions and glacier collapse in polar regions. These mechanisms are due to deformation waves caused by large earthquakes in subduction zones located near the polar regions: the Aleutian and Kuril–Kamchatka subduction zones, closest to the Arctic, and the Antarctica–Chilean and Tonga–Kermadec–Macquarie subduction zones. Disturbances of the lithosphere are transmitted over the distances of 3000–4000 km and more at a speed of about 100 km/year. Additional associated stresses come to the Arctic and Antarctica several decades after the occurrence of large earthquakes. In the Arctic zone, additional stresses affect the low-permeability structure of gas bearing sedimentary strata, causing increased methane emission and climate warming. In West Antarctica, deformation waves could trigger the acceleration and intensive collapse of West Antarctic glaciers, which has been observed since the 1970s. These waves are also capable of activating dormant volcanoes located under the sheet glaciers of West Antarctica, leading to an increase in heat flux, to the melting of ice at the glaciers’ base, and to their accelerated sliding towards the ocean, as is happening with the Thwaites Glacier. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Ice Kamchatka permafrost Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Arctic Thwaites Glacier ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) Tonga ENVELOPE(7.990,7.990,63.065,63.065) West Antarctica Geosciences 13 6 171 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
climate warming Arctic Antarctica permafrost metastable gas hydrates methane emission Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
climate warming Arctic Antarctica permafrost metastable gas hydrates methane emission Geology QE1-996.5 Leopold I. Lobkovsky Alexey A. Baranov Igor A. Garagash Mukamay M. Ramazanov Irina S. Vladimirova Yurii V. Gabsatarov Dmitry A. Alekseev Igor P. Semiletov Large Earthquakes in Subduction Zones around the Polar Regions as a Possible Reason for Rapid Climate Warming in the Arctic and Glacier Collapse in West Antarctica |
topic_facet |
climate warming Arctic Antarctica permafrost metastable gas hydrates methane emission Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
A correlation is observed between changes in the level of Earth’s seismic activity and increments of the atmospheric methane concentration over the past 40 years. Trigger mechanisms are proposed for methane emissions and glacier collapse in polar regions. These mechanisms are due to deformation waves caused by large earthquakes in subduction zones located near the polar regions: the Aleutian and Kuril–Kamchatka subduction zones, closest to the Arctic, and the Antarctica–Chilean and Tonga–Kermadec–Macquarie subduction zones. Disturbances of the lithosphere are transmitted over the distances of 3000–4000 km and more at a speed of about 100 km/year. Additional associated stresses come to the Arctic and Antarctica several decades after the occurrence of large earthquakes. In the Arctic zone, additional stresses affect the low-permeability structure of gas bearing sedimentary strata, causing increased methane emission and climate warming. In West Antarctica, deformation waves could trigger the acceleration and intensive collapse of West Antarctic glaciers, which has been observed since the 1970s. These waves are also capable of activating dormant volcanoes located under the sheet glaciers of West Antarctica, leading to an increase in heat flux, to the melting of ice at the glaciers’ base, and to their accelerated sliding towards the ocean, as is happening with the Thwaites Glacier. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Leopold I. Lobkovsky Alexey A. Baranov Igor A. Garagash Mukamay M. Ramazanov Irina S. Vladimirova Yurii V. Gabsatarov Dmitry A. Alekseev Igor P. Semiletov |
author_facet |
Leopold I. Lobkovsky Alexey A. Baranov Igor A. Garagash Mukamay M. Ramazanov Irina S. Vladimirova Yurii V. Gabsatarov Dmitry A. Alekseev Igor P. Semiletov |
author_sort |
Leopold I. Lobkovsky |
title |
Large Earthquakes in Subduction Zones around the Polar Regions as a Possible Reason for Rapid Climate Warming in the Arctic and Glacier Collapse in West Antarctica |
title_short |
Large Earthquakes in Subduction Zones around the Polar Regions as a Possible Reason for Rapid Climate Warming in the Arctic and Glacier Collapse in West Antarctica |
title_full |
Large Earthquakes in Subduction Zones around the Polar Regions as a Possible Reason for Rapid Climate Warming in the Arctic and Glacier Collapse in West Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Large Earthquakes in Subduction Zones around the Polar Regions as a Possible Reason for Rapid Climate Warming in the Arctic and Glacier Collapse in West Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Large Earthquakes in Subduction Zones around the Polar Regions as a Possible Reason for Rapid Climate Warming in the Arctic and Glacier Collapse in West Antarctica |
title_sort |
large earthquakes in subduction zones around the polar regions as a possible reason for rapid climate warming in the arctic and glacier collapse in west antarctica |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13060171 https://doaj.org/article/0a76eb1199ef4feeb684714c1d725a15 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-106.750,-106.750,-75.500,-75.500) ENVELOPE(7.990,7.990,63.065,63.065) |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic Thwaites Glacier Tonga West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic Thwaites Glacier Tonga West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Ice Kamchatka permafrost Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Ice Kamchatka permafrost Thwaites Glacier West Antarctica |
op_source |
Geosciences, Vol 13, Iss 171, p 171 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/13/6/171 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263 doi:10.3390/geosciences13060171 2076-3263 https://doaj.org/article/0a76eb1199ef4feeb684714c1d725a15 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13060171 |
container_title |
Geosciences |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
171 |
_version_ |
1772176782719451136 |