Climate change may cause methane to emerge from the depths of the oceans climate

A new study published in the sixth issue of the journal Methane shows that frozen methane gas, known as methane hydrate or “ice that burns,” is vulnerable to melting caused by climate change. Natural earth sciences.

This powerful greenhouse gas is released and moves from the deepest parts of the continental shelf to the edge of the submarine shelf. In the process, it affects not only the oceans but also the atmosphere, exacerbating global warming.

An international team of researchers led by the University of Newcastle in England used advanced 3D seismic imaging techniques to examine a portion of methane hydrates softened by rising temperatures off the coast of Mauritania in northwest Africa.

The group identified discrete methane in the area, which had migrated more than 40 kilometers and was released by a field of underwater depressions, known as “pimples,” during warm periods.

This finding, according to lead author Richard Davies, deputy dean of globalization and sustainability at Newcastle University, occurred during the coronavirus lockdown. During this period of isolation, he reviewed photographs of the strata beneath the seafloor off Mauritania and found 23 “clasts.” “Our work shows that they were formed by the expulsion of methane gas released from hydrates, from the deepest parts of the continental shelf, into the ocean,” says the scientist.

Researchers previously believed that methane hydrates were not susceptible to global warming. “Until now, research efforts have focused on the shallow parts of the hydrate stability zone, because we thought that only this part is sensitive to climate changes,” says co-author Christian Berndt, head of the Marine Geodynamics Research Unit (GEOMAR) in Kiel, Germany.

The new research is one of the few looking at methane release from the base of the hydrate stability zone, which is deeper underwater. The results showed that the released gas traveled a large distance towards Earth.

“The new data clearly show that much larger amounts of methane can be released from marine hydrates,” Berndt says. “We really need to get to the bottom of this to better understand the role of hydrates in the climate system.”

The researchers hope to continue their search for evidence of methane emissions and try to predict which areas will be most affected as the planet warms. They are also planning a scientific expedition to excavate the “archaeology” and see if they can link them to past global warming events.