Factors Controlling Methane in Arctic Lakes of Southwest Greenland

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Northington, Robert M., Saros, Jasmine E.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science 2016
• Subjects: Research Article; Arctic; Greenland; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4959701/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27454863; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159642

We surveyed 15 lakes during the growing season of 2014 in Arctic lakes of southwest Greenland to determine which factors influence methane concentrations in these systems. Methane averaged 2.5 μmol L-1 in lakes, but varied a great deal across the landscape with lakes on older landscapes farther from the ice sheet margin having some of the highest values of methane reported in lakes in the northern hemisphere (125 μmol L-1). The most important factors influencing methane in Greenland lakes included ionic composition (SO4, Na, Cl) and chlorophyll a in the water column. DOC concentrations were also related to methane, but the short length of the study likely underestimated the influence and timing of DOC on methane concentrations in the region. Atmospheric methane concentrations are increasing globally, with freshwater ecosystems in northern latitudes continuing to serve as potentially large sources in the future. Much less is known about how freshwater lakes in Greenland fit in the global methane budget compared to other, more well-studied areas of the Arctic, hence our work provides essential data for a more complete view of this rapidly changing region.