Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation
Polar ice-core records suggest that an arctic or boreal source was responsible for more than 30% of the large increase in global atmospheric methane (CH4) concentration during deglacial climate warming; however, specific sources of that CH4 are still debated. Here we present an estimate of past CH4...
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2007
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:49328 2023-07-30T04:01:14+02:00 Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation Walter, K.M. Edwards, M.E. Grosse, G. Zimov, S.A. Chapin III, F.S. 2007-10-26 https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/49328/ unknown Walter, K.M., Edwards, M.E., Grosse, G., Zimov, S.A. and Chapin III, F.S. (2007) Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation. Science, 318 (5850), 633-636. (doi:10.1126/science.1142924 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1142924>). Article PeerReviewed 2007 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1142924 2023-07-09T20:54:06Z Polar ice-core records suggest that an arctic or boreal source was responsible for more than 30% of the large increase in global atmospheric methane (CH4) concentration during deglacial climate warming; however, specific sources of that CH4 are still debated. Here we present an estimate of past CH4 flux during deglaciation from bubbling from thermokarst (thaw) lakes. Based on high rates of CH4 bubbling from contemporary arctic thermokarst lakes, high CH4 production potentials of organic matter from Pleistocene-aged frozen sediments, and estimates of the changing extent of these deposits as thermokarst lakes developed during deglaciation, we find that CH4 bubbling from newly forming thermokarst lakes comprised 33 to 87% of the high-latitude increase in atmospheric methane concentration and, in turn, contributed to the climate warming at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic ice core Thermokarst University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Arctic Science 318 5850 633 636 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
unknown |
description |
Polar ice-core records suggest that an arctic or boreal source was responsible for more than 30% of the large increase in global atmospheric methane (CH4) concentration during deglacial climate warming; however, specific sources of that CH4 are still debated. Here we present an estimate of past CH4 flux during deglaciation from bubbling from thermokarst (thaw) lakes. Based on high rates of CH4 bubbling from contemporary arctic thermokarst lakes, high CH4 production potentials of organic matter from Pleistocene-aged frozen sediments, and estimates of the changing extent of these deposits as thermokarst lakes developed during deglaciation, we find that CH4 bubbling from newly forming thermokarst lakes comprised 33 to 87% of the high-latitude increase in atmospheric methane concentration and, in turn, contributed to the climate warming at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Walter, K.M. Edwards, M.E. Grosse, G. Zimov, S.A. Chapin III, F.S. |
spellingShingle |
Walter, K.M. Edwards, M.E. Grosse, G. Zimov, S.A. Chapin III, F.S. Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation |
author_facet |
Walter, K.M. Edwards, M.E. Grosse, G. Zimov, S.A. Chapin III, F.S. |
author_sort |
Walter, K.M. |
title |
Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation |
title_short |
Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation |
title_full |
Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation |
title_fullStr |
Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation |
title_sort |
thermokarst lakes as a source of atmospheric ch4 during the last deglaciation |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/49328/ |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic ice core Thermokarst |
genre_facet |
Arctic ice core Thermokarst |
op_relation |
Walter, K.M., Edwards, M.E., Grosse, G., Zimov, S.A. and Chapin III, F.S. (2007) Thermokarst Lakes as a Source of Atmospheric CH4 During the Last Deglaciation. Science, 318 (5850), 633-636. (doi:10.1126/science.1142924 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1142924>). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1142924 |
container_title |
Science |
container_volume |
318 |
container_issue |
5850 |
container_start_page |
633 |
op_container_end_page |
636 |
_version_ |
1772811978291544064 |