Widespread natural methane and oil leakage from sub-marine Arctic reservoirs.

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

SUBMITTER: Serov P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10063646 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature