Sediment Characteristics and Methane Ebullition in Three Subarctic Lakes
Abstract
Abstract Ebullition (bubbling) from climate‐sensitive northern lakes remains an unconstrained source of atmospheric methane (CH 4 ). Although the focus of many recent studies, ebullition is rarely linked to the physical characteristics of lakes. In this study we analyze the sediments of subarctic postglacial lakes and investigate how sediment properties relate to the large spatial variation in CH 4 bubble flux, quantified over multiple years using bubble traps. The results show that the sediments from our lakes are rich in total organic carbon, containing 37 kg/m 3 on average. This number is roughly 40% higher than the average for yedoma deposits, which have been identified as high CH 4 emitters. However, the quantity of total organic carbon is not a useful indicator of high emissions from the study lakes. Neither is the amount of CH 4 in the sediment a reliable measure of ebullition potential. Instead, our data point to coarse detritus, partly from buried submerged aquatic vegetation and redeposited peat as spatial controls on fluxes, often in combination with previously established effects of incoming solar radiation and water depth. The results once again highlight the climate sensitivity of northern lakes, indicating that biological responses to warmer waters and increased energymore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[1];
[4];
[2]
- Stockholm Univ. (Sweden)
- Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
- Univ. of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princes Anne, MD (United States)
- Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States); Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1539734
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1465892
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0004632; SC0010580; DE‐SC0004632 and DE‐SC0010580
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 123; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-8953
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Geology
Citation Formats
Wik, Martin, Johnson, Joel E., Crill, Patrick M., DeStasio, Joel P., Erickson, Lance, Halloran, Madison J., Fahnestock, M. Florencia, Crawford, Maurice K., Phillips, Stephen C., and Varner, Ruth K. Sediment Characteristics and Methane Ebullition in Three Subarctic Lakes. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1029/2017jg004298.
Wik, Martin, Johnson, Joel E., Crill, Patrick M., DeStasio, Joel P., Erickson, Lance, Halloran, Madison J., Fahnestock, M. Florencia, Crawford, Maurice K., Phillips, Stephen C., & Varner, Ruth K. Sediment Characteristics and Methane Ebullition in Three Subarctic Lakes. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017jg004298
Wik, Martin, Johnson, Joel E., Crill, Patrick M., DeStasio, Joel P., Erickson, Lance, Halloran, Madison J., Fahnestock, M. Florencia, Crawford, Maurice K., Phillips, Stephen C., and Varner, Ruth K. Wed .
"Sediment Characteristics and Methane Ebullition in Three Subarctic Lakes". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017jg004298. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1539734.
@article{osti_1539734,
title = {Sediment Characteristics and Methane Ebullition in Three Subarctic Lakes},
author = {Wik, Martin and Johnson, Joel E. and Crill, Patrick M. and DeStasio, Joel P. and Erickson, Lance and Halloran, Madison J. and Fahnestock, M. Florencia and Crawford, Maurice K. and Phillips, Stephen C. and Varner, Ruth K.},
abstractNote = {Abstract Ebullition (bubbling) from climate‐sensitive northern lakes remains an unconstrained source of atmospheric methane (CH 4 ). Although the focus of many recent studies, ebullition is rarely linked to the physical characteristics of lakes. In this study we analyze the sediments of subarctic postglacial lakes and investigate how sediment properties relate to the large spatial variation in CH 4 bubble flux, quantified over multiple years using bubble traps. The results show that the sediments from our lakes are rich in total organic carbon, containing 37 kg/m 3 on average. This number is roughly 40% higher than the average for yedoma deposits, which have been identified as high CH 4 emitters. However, the quantity of total organic carbon is not a useful indicator of high emissions from the study lakes. Neither is the amount of CH 4 in the sediment a reliable measure of ebullition potential. Instead, our data point to coarse detritus, partly from buried submerged aquatic vegetation and redeposited peat as spatial controls on fluxes, often in combination with previously established effects of incoming solar radiation and water depth. The results once again highlight the climate sensitivity of northern lakes, indicating that biological responses to warmer waters and increased energy input and heating of organic sediments during longer ice‐free seasons can substantially alter future CH 4 emissions.},
doi = {10.1029/2017jg004298},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences},
number = 8,
volume = 123,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jul 11 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Wed Jul 11 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
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