Rising Arctic Ocean temperatures cause gas hydrate destabilization and ocean acidification

Biastoch, Arne; Treude, Tina; Rüpke, Lars; Riebesell, Ulf; Roth, Christina; Burwicz, Ewa; Park, Wonsun; Latif, Mojib; Böning, Claus W.; Madec, Gurvan; Wallmann, Klaus

doi:10.1029/2011gl047222

Cited by 281 publications

(270 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Model outputs suggest that bathyal areas particularly prone to declining POC flux lie in the Norwegian and Caribbean Seas, NW and NE Atlantic, the eastern tropical Pacific, and bathyal Indian and Southern Oceans, which could experience as much as a 55% decline in POC flux by 2100 (Tables 2, 3; Figures 2, 3). Elevated seafloor temperatures at northerly latitudes (Figure 2) will lead to warming boundary currents and may trigger massive release of methane from gas hydrates buried on margins (Phrampus and Hornbach, 2012;Johnson et al, 2015) especially in the Arctic, with simultaneous effects on global climate, aerobic methane oxidation, water column de-oxygenation and ocean acidification (Biastoch et al, 2011;Boetius and Wenzhöfer, 2013). Along canyon-cut margins (e.g., the western Mediterranean), warming may additionally reduce density-driven cascading events, leading to decreased organic matter transport to the seafloor (Canals et al, 2006), though this very process is also likely to reduce physical disturbance at the seafloor.…”

Section: Seafloor Ecosystem Changes Under Future Climate Change Scenamentioning

confidence: 99%

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Sweetman

Thurber

Smith

et al. 2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

282

297

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The deep sea encompasses the largest ecosystems on Earth. Although poorly known, deep seafloor ecosystems provide services that are vitally important to the entire ocean and biosphere. Rising atmospheric greenhouse gases are bringing about significant changes in the environmental properties of the ocean realm in terms of water column oxygenation, temperature, pH and food supply, with concomitant impacts on deep-sea ecosystems. Projections suggest that abyssal (3000-6000 m) ocean temperatures could increase by 1°C over the next 84 years, while abyssal seafloor habitats under areas of deep-water formation may experience reductions in water column oxygen concentrations by as much as 0.03 mL L -1 by 2100. Bathyal depths (200-3000 m) worldwide will undergo the most significant reductions in pH in all oceans by the year 2100 (0.29 to 0.37 pH units). O 2 concentrations will also decline in the bathyal NE Pacific and Southern Oceans, with losses up to 3.7% or more, especially at intermediate depths. Another important environmental parameter, the flux of particulate organic matter to the seafloor, is likely to decline significantly in most oceans, most notably in the abyssal and bathyal Indian Ocean where it is predicted to decrease by 40-55% by the end of the century. Unfortunately, how these major changes will affect deep-seafloor ecosystems is, in some cases, very poorly understood. In this paper, we provide a detailed overview of the impacts of these changing environmental parameters on deep-seafloor ecosystems that will most likely be seen by 2100 in continental margin, abyssal and polar settings. We also consider how these changes may combine with other anthropogenic stressors (e.g., fishing, mineral mining, oil and gas extraction) to further impact deep-seafloor ecosystems and discuss the possible societal implications.

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Section: Seafloor Ecosystem Changes Under Future Climate Change Scenamentioning

confidence: 99%

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Sweetman

Thurber

Smith

et al. 2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

282

297

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Through microbial aerobic oxidation [Valentine et al, 2001;Murrell, 2010], the water column can be affected by oxygen depletion and ocean acidification [Biastoch et al, 2011]. Only if enough methane passes through this microbial filter and reaches the atmosphere, its global warming potential (about 25 times higher than CO 2 [IPCC, 2007]) could lead to a further acceleration of climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the fate of methane hydrates under global warming

Kretschmer

Biastoch

Rüpke

et al. 2015

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

127

146

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Large amounts of methane hydrate locked up within marine sediments are vulnerable to climate change. Changes in bottom water temperatures may lead to their destabilization and the release of methane into the water column or even the atmosphere. In a multimodel approach, the possible impact of destabilizing methane hydrates onto global climate within the next century is evaluated. The focus is set on changing bottom water temperatures to infer the response of the global methane hydrate inventory to future climate change. Present and future bottom water temperatures are evaluated by the combined use of hindcast high‐resolution ocean circulation simulations and climate modeling for the next century. The changing global hydrate inventory is computed using the parameterized transfer function recently proposed by Wallmann et al. (2012). We find that the present‐day world's total marine methane hydrate inventory is estimated to be 1146 Gt of methane carbon. Within the next 100 years this global inventory may be reduced by ∼0.03% (releasing ∼473 Mt methane from the seafloor). Compared to the present‐day annual emissions of anthropogenic methane, the amount of methane released from melting hydrates by 2100 is small and will not have a major impact on the global climate. On a regional scale, ocean bottom warming over the next 100 years will result in a relatively large decrease in the methane hydrate deposits, with the Arctic and Blake Ridge region, offshore South Carolina, being most affected.

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“…The presence of hydrate reduces sediment permeability such that subsurface gas flow can be directed along the base of the hydrate layer, with seepage at the seafloor in waters shallower than the landward limit of the hydrate stability zone [Naudts et al, 2006;Schmale et al, 2011]. Destabilization of methane hydrate in seafloor sediments is proposed to have contributed to previous episodes of major climate change, including the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum [e.g., Dickens, 2011], and recently discovered methane emissions from the seafloor offshore western Svalbard may, at least in part, be related to hydrate dissociation linked to warming of bottom waters [Berndt et al, 2014;Biastoch et al, 2011;Reagan and Moridis, 2009;Thatcher et al, 2013;Westbrook et al, 2009].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluxes and fate of dissolved methane released at the seafloor at the landward limit of the gas hydrate stability zone offshore western Svalbard

et al. 2015

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Widespread seepage of methane from seafloor sediments offshore Svalbard close to the landward limit of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) may, in part, be driven by hydrate destabilization due to bottom water warming. To assess whether this methane reaches the atmosphere where it may contribute to further warming, we have undertaken comprehensive surveys of methane in seawater and air on the upper slope and shelf region. Near the GHSZ limit at ∼400 m water depth, methane concentrations are highest close to the seabed, reaching 825 nM. A simple box model of dissolved methane removal from bottom waters by horizontal and vertical mixing and microbially mediated oxidation indicates that ∼60% of methane released at the seafloor is oxidized at depth before it mixes with overlying surface waters. Deep waters are therefore not a significant source of methane to intermediate and surface waters; rather, relatively high methane concentrations in these waters (up to 50 nM) are attributed to isopycnal turbulent mixing with shelf waters. On the shelf, extensive seafloor seepage at <100 m water depth produces methane concentrations of up to 615 nM. The diffusive flux of methane from sea to air in the vicinity of the landward limit of the GHSZ is ∼4–20 μmol m−2 d−1, which is small relative to other Arctic sources. In support of this, analyses of mole fractions and the carbon isotope signature of atmospheric methane above the seeps do not indicate a significant local contribution from the seafloor source.

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Rising Arctic Ocean temperatures cause gas hydrate destabilization and ocean acidification

Cited by 281 publications

References 23 publications

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Modeling the fate of methane hydrates under global warming

Fluxes and fate of dissolved methane released at the seafloor at the landward limit of the gas hydrate stability zone offshore western Svalbard

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