First observation of direct methane emission to the atmosphere from the subglacial domain of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Abstract During a 2016 field expedition to the West Greenland Ice Sheet, a striking observation of significantly elevated CH4 concentrations of up to 15 times the background atmospheric concentration were measured directly in the air expelled with meltwater at a subglacial discharge point from the G...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Jesper Riis Christiansen, Christian Juncher Jørgensen
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2018
Subjects:
Subglacial Environments
Atmospheric Background Concentration
Flux Rates
Direct Emissions
Discharge Point
Medicine
R
Science
Q
Arctic
Greenland
greenlandic
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35054-7
https://doaj.org/article/4892bad9619b4cd188dd0f74ac18734b
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Summary:Abstract During a 2016 field expedition to the West Greenland Ice Sheet, a striking observation of significantly elevated CH4 concentrations of up to 15 times the background atmospheric concentration were measured directly in the air expelled with meltwater at a subglacial discharge point from the Greenland Ice Sheet. The range of hourly subglacial CH4 flux rate through the discharge point was estimated to be 3.1 to 134 g CH4 hr−1. These measurements are the first observations of direct emissions of CH4 from the subglacial environment under the Greenlandic Ice Sheet to the atmosphere and indicate a novel emission pathway of CH4 that is currently a non-quantified component of the Arctic CH4 budget.

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