Widespread natural methane and oil leakage from sub-marine Arctic reservoirs.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36997538.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-37514-9 and PMC identifier 10063646.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Parceling the anthropogenic and natural (geological) sources of fossil methane in the atmosphere remains problematic due to a lack of distinctive chemical markers for their discrimination. In this light, understanding the distribution and contribution of potential geological methane sources is important. Here we present empirical observations of hitherto undocumented, widespread and extensive methane and oil release from geological reservoirs to the Arctic Ocean. Methane fluxes from >7000 seeps significantly deplete in seawater, but nevertheless reach the sea surface and may transfer to the air. Oil slick emission spots and gas ebullition are persistent across multi-year observations and correlate to formerly glaciated geological structures, which have experienced km-scale glacial erosion that has left hydrocarbon reservoirs partially uncapped since the last deglaciation ~15,000 years ago. Such persistent, geologically controlled, natural hydrocarbon release may be characteristic of formerly glaciated hydrocarbon-bearing basins which are common across polar continental shelves, and could represent an underestimated source of natural fossil methane within the global carbon cycle.