Long-Term Measurements of Methane Ebullition From Thaw Ponds
Abstract
Arctic regions are experiencing rapid warming, leading to permafrost thaw and formation of numerous water bodies. Although small ponds in particular are considered hot spots for methane (CH4) release, long-term studies of CH4 efflux from these surfaces are rare. We have collected an extensive data set of CH4 ebullition (bubbling) measurements from eight small thaw ponds (<0.001 km2) with different physical and hydrological characteristics over four summer seasons, the longest set of observations from thaw ponds to date. The measured fluxes were highly variable with an average of 20.0 mg CH4 · m-2 · day-1 (median: 4.1 mg CH4 · m-2 · day-1, n = 2,063) which is higher than that of most nearby lakes. The ponds were categorized into four types based on clear and significant differences in bubble flux. We found that the amount of CH4 released as bubbles from ponds was very weakly correlated with environmental variables, like air temperature and atmospheric pressure, and was potentially more related to differences in physical characteristics of the ponds. Using our measured average daily bubble flux plus the available literature, we estimate circumpolar thaw ponds <0.001 km2 in size to emit between 0.2 and 1.0 Tg of CH4 throughmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[3];
[1];
[1];
[2];
[1]
- Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
- Stockholm Univ. (Sweden)
- Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1611459
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0010580; SC0016440; EF1241037; NNX15AH79H
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 124; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-8953
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; 58 GEOSCIENCES; environmental sciences & ecology; geology
Citation Formats
Burke, S. A., Wik, M., Lang, A., Contosta, A. R., Palace, M., Crill, P. M., and Varner, R. K. Long-Term Measurements of Methane Ebullition From Thaw Ponds. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1029/2018jg004786.
Burke, S. A., Wik, M., Lang, A., Contosta, A. R., Palace, M., Crill, P. M., & Varner, R. K. Long-Term Measurements of Methane Ebullition From Thaw Ponds. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jg004786
Burke, S. A., Wik, M., Lang, A., Contosta, A. R., Palace, M., Crill, P. M., and Varner, R. K. Mon .
"Long-Term Measurements of Methane Ebullition From Thaw Ponds". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jg004786. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1611459.
@article{osti_1611459,
title = {Long-Term Measurements of Methane Ebullition From Thaw Ponds},
author = {Burke, S. A. and Wik, M. and Lang, A. and Contosta, A. R. and Palace, M. and Crill, P. M. and Varner, R. K.},
abstractNote = {Arctic regions are experiencing rapid warming, leading to permafrost thaw and formation of numerous water bodies. Although small ponds in particular are considered hot spots for methane (CH4) release, long-term studies of CH4 efflux from these surfaces are rare. We have collected an extensive data set of CH4 ebullition (bubbling) measurements from eight small thaw ponds (<0.001 km2) with different physical and hydrological characteristics over four summer seasons, the longest set of observations from thaw ponds to date. The measured fluxes were highly variable with an average of 20.0 mg CH4 · m-2 · day-1 (median: 4.1 mg CH4 · m-2 · day-1, n = 2,063) which is higher than that of most nearby lakes. The ponds were categorized into four types based on clear and significant differences in bubble flux. We found that the amount of CH4 released as bubbles from ponds was very weakly correlated with environmental variables, like air temperature and atmospheric pressure, and was potentially more related to differences in physical characteristics of the ponds. Using our measured average daily bubble flux plus the available literature, we estimate circumpolar thaw ponds <0.001 km2 in size to emit between 0.2 and 1.0 Tg of CH4 through ebullition. Our findings exemplify the importance of high-frequency measurements over long study periods in order to adequately capture the variability of these water bodies. Through the expansion of current spatial and temporal monitoring efforts, we can increase our ability to estimate CH4 emissions from permafrost pond ecosystems now and in the future.},
doi = {10.1029/2018jg004786},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences},
number = 7,
volume = 124,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jun 24 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Mon Jun 24 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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Figure 1: Orthomosaic image of the Stordalen Mire in northernmost Sweden, (68°22′N, 19°03′E) taken 12 July 2016 from a collection of images acquired at an altitude of 70 m using an unmanned aerial system. Ponds measured in this study are labeled with their corresponding letter. Using Google Earth Engine, transectmore »
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