Widespread methane release from thawing Arctic gas hydrates is a major concern, yet the processes, sources, and fluxes involved remain unconstrained. We present geophysical data documenting a cluster of kilometer-wide craters and mounds from the Barents Sea floor associated with large-scale methane expulsion. Combined with ice sheet/gas hydrate modeling, our results indicate that during glaciation, natural gas migrated from underlying hydrocarbon reservoirs and was sequestered extensively as subglacial gas hydrates. Upon ice sheet retreat, methane from this hydrate reservoir concentrated in massive mounds before being abruptly released to form craters. We propose that these processes were likely widespread across past glaciated petroleum provinces and that they also provide an analog for the potential future destabilization of subglacial gas hydrate reservoirs beneath contemporary ice sheets.

[1] The roughness of a glacier bed has high importance for the estimation of the sliding velocity and can also provide valuable insights into the dynamics and history of ice sheets, depending on scale. Measurement of basal properties in present-day ice sheets is restricted to ground-penetrating radar and seismics, with surveys retrieving relatively coarse data sets. Deglaciated areas, like the Barents Sea, can be surveyed by shipborne 2-D and 3-D seismics and multibeam sonar and provide the possibility of studying the basal roughness of former ice sheets and ice streams with high resolution. Here, for the first time, we quantify the subglacial roughness of the former Barents Sea ice sheet by estimating the spectral roughness of the basal topography. We also make deductions about the past flow directions by investigating how the roughness varies along a 2-D line as the orientation of the line changes. Lastly, we investigate how the estimated basal roughness is affected by the resolution of the basal topography data set by comparing the spectral roughness along a cross section using various sampling intervals. We find that the roughness typically varies on a similar scale as for other previously marine-inundated areas in West Antarctica, with subglacial troughs having very low roughness, consistent with fast ice flow and high rates of basal erosion. The resolution of the data set seems to be of minor importance when comparing roughness indices calculated with a fixed profile length. A strong dependence on track orientation is shown for all wavelengths, with profiles having higher roughness across former flow directions than along them.

Variations in the flow of ice streams and outlet glaciers are a primary control on ice sheet stability, yet comprehensive understanding of the key processes operating at the ice-bed interface remains elusive. Basal resistance is critical, especially sticky spots-localized zones of high basal traction-for maintaining force balance in an otherwise well-lubricated/high-slip subglacial environment. Here we consider the influence of subglacial gas-hydrate formation on ice stream dynamics, and its potential to initiate and maintain sticky spots. Geophysical data document the geologic footprint of a major palaeo-ice-stream that drained the Barents Sea-Fennoscandian ice sheet approximately 20,000 years ago. Our results reveal a ?250 km2 sticky spot that coincided with subsurface shallow gas accumulations, seafloor fluid expulsion and a fault complex associated with deep hydrocarbon reservoirs. We propose that gas migrating from these reservoirs formed hydrates under high-pressure, low-temperature subglacial conditions. The gas hydrate desiccated, stiffened and thereby strengthened the subglacial sediments, promoting high traction-a sticky spot-that regulated ice stream flow. Deep hydrocarbon reservoirs are common beneath past and contemporary glaciated areas, implying that gas-hydrate regulation of subglacial dynamics could be a widespread phenomenon.Peer reviewe