Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar
Large reservoirs of methane present in Arctic marine sediments are susceptible to rapid warming, promoting increasing methane emissions. Gas bubbles in the water-column can be detected and flow-rates can be quantified using hydroacoustic survey methods, making it possible to monitor spatiotemporal v...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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Language: | English |
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2019
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Online Access: | https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/1/article.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/2/2019GL082750.pdf |
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:431729 2024-02-11T10:01:14+01:00 Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar Veloso-Alarcó, Mario E. Jansson, Pär De Batist, Marc Minshull, Timothy Westbrook, Graham K. Palike, Heiko Bünz, Stefan Wright, Ian Greinert, Jens 2019-08-16 text https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/1/article.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/2/2019GL082750.pdf en English eng https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/1/article.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/2/2019GL082750.pdf Veloso-Alarcó, Mario E., Jansson, Pär, De Batist, Marc, Minshull, Timothy, Westbrook, Graham K., Palike, Heiko, Bünz, Stefan, Wright, Ian and Greinert, Jens (2019) Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar. Geophysical Research Letters, 46 (15), 9072-9081. (doi:10.1029/2019GL082750 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082750>). other Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082750 2024-01-25T23:19:33Z Large reservoirs of methane present in Arctic marine sediments are susceptible to rapid warming, promoting increasing methane emissions. Gas bubbles in the water-column can be detected and flow-rates can be quantified using hydroacoustic survey methods, making it possible to monitor spatiotemporal variability. We present methane (CH4) bubble flow-rates derived from hydroacoustic datasets acquired during 11 research expeditions to the western Svalbard continental margin (2008-2014). Three seepage areas emit in total 725–1125 t CH4 y-1 and bubble fluxes are up to 2 kg m-2 y-1. Bubble fluxes vary between different surveys but no clear trend can be identified. Flux variability analyses suggest that two areas are geologically interconnected, displaying alternating flow changes. Spatial migration of bubble-seepage was observed to follow seasonal changes in the theoretical landward limit of the hydrate stability zone, suggesting that formation/dissociation of shallow hydrates, modulated by bottom water temperatures, influences seafloor bubble release. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Svalbard University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Arctic Svalbard Geophysical Research Letters 46 15 9072 9081 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
English |
description |
Large reservoirs of methane present in Arctic marine sediments are susceptible to rapid warming, promoting increasing methane emissions. Gas bubbles in the water-column can be detected and flow-rates can be quantified using hydroacoustic survey methods, making it possible to monitor spatiotemporal variability. We present methane (CH4) bubble flow-rates derived from hydroacoustic datasets acquired during 11 research expeditions to the western Svalbard continental margin (2008-2014). Three seepage areas emit in total 725–1125 t CH4 y-1 and bubble fluxes are up to 2 kg m-2 y-1. Bubble fluxes vary between different surveys but no clear trend can be identified. Flux variability analyses suggest that two areas are geologically interconnected, displaying alternating flow changes. Spatial migration of bubble-seepage was observed to follow seasonal changes in the theoretical landward limit of the hydrate stability zone, suggesting that formation/dissociation of shallow hydrates, modulated by bottom water temperatures, influences seafloor bubble release. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Veloso-Alarcó, Mario E. Jansson, Pär De Batist, Marc Minshull, Timothy Westbrook, Graham K. Palike, Heiko Bünz, Stefan Wright, Ian Greinert, Jens |
spellingShingle |
Veloso-Alarcó, Mario E. Jansson, Pär De Batist, Marc Minshull, Timothy Westbrook, Graham K. Palike, Heiko Bünz, Stefan Wright, Ian Greinert, Jens Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar |
author_facet |
Veloso-Alarcó, Mario E. Jansson, Pär De Batist, Marc Minshull, Timothy Westbrook, Graham K. Palike, Heiko Bünz, Stefan Wright, Ian Greinert, Jens |
author_sort |
Veloso-Alarcó, Mario E. |
title |
Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar |
title_short |
Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar |
title_full |
Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar |
title_fullStr |
Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar |
title_full_unstemmed |
Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar |
title_sort |
variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western svalbar |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/1/article.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/2/2019GL082750.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/1/article.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/431729/2/2019GL082750.pdf Veloso-Alarcó, Mario E., Jansson, Pär, De Batist, Marc, Minshull, Timothy, Westbrook, Graham K., Palike, Heiko, Bünz, Stefan, Wright, Ian and Greinert, Jens (2019) Variability of acoustically evidenced methane bubble emissions offshore western Svalbar. Geophysical Research Letters, 46 (15), 9072-9081. (doi:10.1029/2019GL082750 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082750>). |
op_rights |
other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082750 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
46 |
container_issue |
15 |
container_start_page |
9072 |
op_container_end_page |
9081 |
_version_ |
1790597015693950976 |