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New research suggests that the ice cap, or frozen methane that is trapped as a solid beneath our oceans, may be melting. climate change may release more methane into the atmosphere. Using dynamic imaging, the team discovered that it can travel long distances, challenging previous assumptions about its stability.
Research shows that sea ice, or frozen methane, is prone to melting due to climate change, posing a major threat to its release. release of methane into the atmosphere.
An international team of researchers led by Newcastle University found that as methane ice and ice melt, methane – a powerful greenhouse gas – is released. free and away from the deep parts of the continent at the edge of the undersea shelf. They even found a bag that went 25 miles (40 kilometers).
Published in journal Nature GeoscienceThe researchers say that this means that more methane is likely to be released into the environment as a result of climate change.
Methane Hydrate: A Climate Threat
Methane hydrate, also known as fire-ice, is an ice-like structure buried on the ocean floor that contains methane. Most of the methane is stored as marine methane under the sea. It melts as the ocean warms, releasing methane into the oceans and atmosphere – called dissociated methane – which contributes to global warming.
Scientists used three-dimensional modeling to study the amount of water dissolved during the warming climate. from the coast of Mauritania in Northwest Africa. They identified a specific case in which methane migrated over 40 kilometers and was released in a subsea field, known as pockmarks, during past warm periods.
Newcastle University researchers have found that methane ice trapped under our seas is prone to melting due to climate change and could be released into the Sami. Credit: University of Newcastle
Findings and Implications
The lead author, Professor Richard Davies, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Global and Sustainability, Newcastle University, said: “A Covid lockdown was found, I revisited the images of the strata under the sea today outside of Mauritania and it really stumbled on 23 pockmarks. . Our work shows that it was caused by methane that came from liquid, from deep parts of the continent flowing into the ocean. Scientists previously thought that this water was not affected by the temperature of the climate, but we have shown that some of them are.
The researchers first studied how methane is released from freshwater. However, these studies are based on areas that contain only a small portion of the world’s methane reserves. It is one of only a small number investigating methane release from the bottom of the water stability zone, which is deeper underwater. The results show that methane released from the wet stability zone traveled far into the field.
Research Overview and Future Plans
Professor Dr. Christian Berndt, Head of the Marine Geodynamics Research Group, GEOMAR, in Kiel, Germany, added:
“This is an important discovery. At this time, research efforts were focused on the shallow parts of the fluid stability zone, because we thought that this is the only part that is sensitive to climate changes.
“New data clearly show that large volumes of methane can be released from marine oils and we still need to get to the bottom of this to better understand the role of hydrates in the price.”
Methane is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2). Statistics from the United States Environmental Protection Agency show that methane is about 16% of greenhouse gases worldwide.
The results of the study could play an important role in helping to predict and address the impact of methane on climate change.
The team plans to continue searching for evidence of methane vents near the rim and try to see where the methane is coming from. large as we warm the planet. The researchers are now planning a scientific cruise to drill into the pockmarks and see if they can closely relate them to the events of the warming climate.
Abstract: “Long-distance transport and emission of methane from the bottom of the water stability zone” by Richard J. Davies, Jinxiu Yang, Mark T. Ireland, Christian Berndt, Miguel Ángel Morales Maqueda and Mads Huuse, 6 December 2023, Nature Geoscience.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-023-01333-w