Natural marine seepage blowout: Contribution to atmospheric methane

被引:103
作者
Leifer, Ira [1 ]
Luyendyk, Bruce P.
Boles, Jim
Clark, Jordan F.
机构
[1] Univ Calif Santa Barbara, Inst Marine Sci, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA
[2] Univ Calif Santa Barbara, Inst Crustal Studies, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA
[3] Univ Calif Santa Barbara, Dept Earth Sci, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA
关键词
D O I
10.1029/2005GB002668
中图分类号
X [环境科学、安全科学];
学科分类号
08 ; 0830 ;
摘要
[ 1] The release of methane sequestered within deep-sea methane hydrates is postulated as a mechanism for abrupt climate change; however, whether emitted seabed methane reaches the atmosphere is debatable. We observed methane emissions for a blowout from a shallow ( 22 m) hydrocarbon seep. The emission from the blowout was determined from atmospheric plume measurements. Simulations suggest a 1.1% gas loss to dissolution compared to similar to 10% loss for a typical low-flux bubble plume. Transfer to the atmosphere primarily was enhanced by the rapid upwelling flows induced by the massive discharge. This mechanism could allow methane suddenly released from deeper (> 250 m) waters to contribute significantly to atmospheric methane budgets.
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页数:9
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