The East Siberian Arctic Shelf: towards further assessment of permafrost-related methane fluxes and role of sea ice.

ABSTRACT: Sustained release of methane (CH(4)) to the atmosphere from thawing Arctic permafrost may be a positive and significant feedback to climate warming. Atmospheric venting of CH(4) from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS) was recently reported to be on par with flux from the Arctic tundra; however, the future scale of these releases remains unclear. Here, based on results of our latest observations, we show that CH(4) emissions from this shelf are likely to be determined by the state of subsea permafrost degradation. We observed CH(4) emissions from two previously understudied areas of the ESAS: the outer shelf, where subsea permafrost is predicted to be discontinuous or mostly degraded due to long submergence by seawater, and the near shore area, where deep/open taliks presumably form due

SUBMITTER: Shakhova N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4607703 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature