Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic
Permafrost and glaciers in the high Arctic form an impermeable ‘cryospheric cap’ that traps a large reservoir of subsurface methane, preventing it from reaching the atmosphere. Cryospheric vulnerability to climate warming is making releases of this methane possible. On Svalbard, where air temperatur...
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ftoslouniv:oai:www.duo.uio.no:10852/103299 2023-09-05T13:15:56+02:00 Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic ENEngelskEnglishGroundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic Kleber, Gabreille E. Hodson, Andrew Magerl, Jasper Leonard Mannerfelt, Erik Schytt Bradbury, Harold J. Zhu, Yizhu Trimmer, Mark Turchyn, Alexandra V. 2023-07-25T09:29:28Z http://hdl.handle.net/10852/103299 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01210-6 EN eng Nature Portfolio NFR/329174 NFR/294764 Kleber, Gabreille E. Hodson, Andrew Magerl, Jasper Leonard Mannerfelt, Erik Schytt Bradbury, Harold J. Zhu, Yizhu Trimmer, Mark Turchyn, Alexandra V. . Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic. Nature Geoscience. 2023, 16, 597-604 http://hdl.handle.net/10852/103299 2163390 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Nature Geoscience&rft.volume=16&rft.spage=597&rft.date=2023 Nature Geoscience 16 7 597 604 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01210-6 Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 1752-0894 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed PublishedVersion 2023 ftoslouniv https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01210-6 2023-08-23T22:38:55Z Permafrost and glaciers in the high Arctic form an impermeable ‘cryospheric cap’ that traps a large reservoir of subsurface methane, preventing it from reaching the atmosphere. Cryospheric vulnerability to climate warming is making releases of this methane possible. On Svalbard, where air temperatures are rising more than two times faster than the average for the Arctic, glaciers are retreating and leaving behind exposed forefields that enable rapid methane escape. Here we document how methane-rich groundwater springs have formed in recently revealed forefields of 78 land-terminating glaciers across central Svalbard, bringing deep-seated methane gas to the surface. Waters collected from these springs during February–May of 2021 and 2022 are supersaturated with methane up to 600,000 times greater than atmospheric equilibration. Spatial sampling reveals a geological dependency on the extent of methane supersaturation, with isotopic evidence of a thermogenic source. We estimate annual methane emissions from proglacial groundwaters to be up to 2.31 kt across the Svalbard archipelago. Further investigations into marine-terminating glaciers indicate future methane emission sources as these glaciers transition into fully land-based systems. Our findings reveal that climate-driven glacial retreat facilitates widespread release of methane, a positive feedback loop that is probably prevalent across other regions of the rapidly warming Arctic Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic permafrost Svalbard Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Nature Geoscience 16 7 597 604 |
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Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) |
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English |
description |
Permafrost and glaciers in the high Arctic form an impermeable ‘cryospheric cap’ that traps a large reservoir of subsurface methane, preventing it from reaching the atmosphere. Cryospheric vulnerability to climate warming is making releases of this methane possible. On Svalbard, where air temperatures are rising more than two times faster than the average for the Arctic, glaciers are retreating and leaving behind exposed forefields that enable rapid methane escape. Here we document how methane-rich groundwater springs have formed in recently revealed forefields of 78 land-terminating glaciers across central Svalbard, bringing deep-seated methane gas to the surface. Waters collected from these springs during February–May of 2021 and 2022 are supersaturated with methane up to 600,000 times greater than atmospheric equilibration. Spatial sampling reveals a geological dependency on the extent of methane supersaturation, with isotopic evidence of a thermogenic source. We estimate annual methane emissions from proglacial groundwaters to be up to 2.31 kt across the Svalbard archipelago. Further investigations into marine-terminating glaciers indicate future methane emission sources as these glaciers transition into fully land-based systems. Our findings reveal that climate-driven glacial retreat facilitates widespread release of methane, a positive feedback loop that is probably prevalent across other regions of the rapidly warming Arctic Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kleber, Gabreille E. Hodson, Andrew Magerl, Jasper Leonard Mannerfelt, Erik Schytt Bradbury, Harold J. Zhu, Yizhu Trimmer, Mark Turchyn, Alexandra V. |
spellingShingle |
Kleber, Gabreille E. Hodson, Andrew Magerl, Jasper Leonard Mannerfelt, Erik Schytt Bradbury, Harold J. Zhu, Yizhu Trimmer, Mark Turchyn, Alexandra V. Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic |
author_facet |
Kleber, Gabreille E. Hodson, Andrew Magerl, Jasper Leonard Mannerfelt, Erik Schytt Bradbury, Harold J. Zhu, Yizhu Trimmer, Mark Turchyn, Alexandra V. |
author_sort |
Kleber, Gabreille E. |
title |
Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic |
title_short |
Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic |
title_full |
Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic |
title_sort |
groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high arctic |
publisher |
Nature Portfolio |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10852/103299 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01210-6 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
genre |
Arctic Arctic permafrost Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic permafrost Svalbard |
op_source |
1752-0894 |
op_relation |
NFR/329174 NFR/294764 Kleber, Gabreille E. Hodson, Andrew Magerl, Jasper Leonard Mannerfelt, Erik Schytt Bradbury, Harold J. Zhu, Yizhu Trimmer, Mark Turchyn, Alexandra V. . Groundwater springs formed during glacial retreat are a large source of methane in the high Arctic. Nature Geoscience. 2023, 16, 597-604 http://hdl.handle.net/10852/103299 2163390 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Nature Geoscience&rft.volume=16&rft.spage=597&rft.date=2023 Nature Geoscience 16 7 597 604 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01210-6 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01210-6 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
597 |
op_container_end_page |
604 |
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1776197733244207104 |