Characteristics of methane emissions from alpine thermokarst lakes on the Tibetan Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Understanding methane (CH₄) emission from thermokarst lakes is crucial for predicting the impacts of abrupt thaw on the permafrost carbon-climate feedback. However, observational evidence, especially from high-altitude permafrost regions, is still scarce. Here, by combining field surveys, radio- and stable-carbon isotopic analyses, and metagenomic sequencing, we present multiple characteristics of CH₄ emissions from 120 thermokarst lakes in 30 clusters along a 1100 km transect on the Tibetan Plateau. We find that thermokarst lakes have high CH₄ emissions during the ice-free period (13.4 ± 1.5 mmol m^-2 d^-1; mean ± standard error) across this alpine permafrost region. Ebullition constitutes 84% of CH₄ emissions, which are fuel

SUBMITTER: Yang G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10229571 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature