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Enhanced CO2 uptake at a shallow Arctic Ocean seep field overwhelms the positive warming potential of emitted methane

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [3];  [4];  [4]
  1. US Geological Survey (USGS) Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA (United States); U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole Coastal & Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA 02543
  2. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel (Germany). Dept. of Marine Geosystems; Univ. of Tromso-The Arctic Univ. of Norway, Tromso (Norway). Center for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate and Dept. of Geosciences; Royal Netherlands Inst. for Sea Research (NIOZ), Texel (Netherlands). Dept. of Marine Geology
  3. US Geological Survey (USGS) Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA (United States)
  4. Univ. of Tromso-The Arctic Univ. of Norway, Tromso (Norway). Center for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate and Dept. of Geosciences
  5. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel (Germany). Dept. of Marine Geosystems
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Continued warming of the Arctic Ocean in coming decades is projected to trigger the release of teragrams (1 Tg = 106 tons) of methane from thawing subsea permafrost on shallow continental shelves and dissociation of methane hydrate on upper continental slopes. On the shallow shelves (<100 m water depth), methane released from the seafloor may reach the atmosphere and potentially amplify global warming. On the other hand, biological uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) has the potential to offset the positive warming potential of emitted methane, a process that has not received detailed consideration for these settings. Continuous sea-air gas flux data collected over a shallow ebullitive methane seep field on the Svalbard margin reveal atmospheric CO2 uptake rates (-33,300 ± 7,900 μmol m-2.d-1) twice that of surrounding waters and ~1,900 times greater than the diffusive sea-air methane efflux (17.3 ± 4.8 μmol m-2.d-1). The negative radiative forcing expected from this CO2 uptake is up to 231 times greater than the positive radiative forcing from the methane emissions. Surface water characteristics (e.g., high dissolved oxygen, high pH, and enrichment of 13C in CO2) indicate that upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water from near the seafloor accompanies methane emissions and stimulates CO2 consumption by photosynthesizing phytoplankton. Thus, these findings challenge the widely held perception that areas characterized by shallow-water methane seeps and/or strongly elevated sea-air methane flux always increase the global atmospheric greenhouse gas burden.
Research Organization:
US Geological Survey (USGS) Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Research Council of Norway (RCN); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
FE0002911; FE0005806
OSTI ID:
1465488
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 21 Vol. 114; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (15)

Ice sheets matter for the global carbon cycle journal August 2019
Methane at Svalbard and over the European Arctic Ocean posted_content July 2018
A record of seafloor methane seepage across the last 150 million years journal May 2020
High-resolution underwater laser spectrometer sensing provides new insights into methane distribution at an Arctic seepage site journal January 2019
High-resolution under-water laser spectrometer sensing provides new insights to methane distribution at an Arctic seepage site posted_content April 2019
Sub-permafrost methane seepage from open-system pingos in Svalbard journal November 2020
Methane Feedbacks to the Global Climate System in a Warmer World journal March 2018
Water salinity and inundation control soil carbon decomposition during salt marsh restoration: An incubation experiment journal February 2019
Limited Acute Influence of Aerobic Methane Oxidation on Ocean Carbon Dioxide and pH in Hudson Canyon, Northern U.S. Atlantic Margin journal July 2018
Variability of Acoustically Evidenced Methane Bubble Emissions Offshore Western Svalbard journal August 2019
Interpreting contemporary trends in atmospheric methane journal February 2019
Limited contribution of ancient methane to surface waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea shelf journal January 2018
Shipborne eddy covariance observations of methane fluxes constrain Arctic sea emissions journal January 2020
Understanding the Permafrost–Hydrate System and Associated Methane Releases in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf journal June 2019
Methane at Svalbard and over the European Arctic Ocean journal January 2018

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Arctic Ocean
carbon dioxide
greenhouse gas emissions
marine biogeochemistry
methane