Unexpectedly
high level of subsea permafrost degradation was recorded by a
Russian-led scientific ]expedition that spent more than a month in
the seas of the eastern Arctic. A
record high methane gas emission in a shape of an underwater
‘fountain’ was registered at the beginning of October east of
Bennett island in the East Siberian Sea. ‘It
was a needle in a haystack chase, to find an exact place of a methane
seep in dark sea waters, but we found it!
'Just
right off the Academician Keldysh scientists noticed a spot of
emerald-coloured water, with gas rushing to surface in thousands of
bubble threads’, said expedition member Sergey Nikiforov, a
communications experts of the Tomsk Politechnical University.
The
area of the fountain covered about five metres, with water ‘so
violently boiling
with methane bubbles’ that scientists skipped using plastic cones
for sampling
and instead collected the gas in buckets.
‘This
was the most powerful seep I have ever observed. No one has ever
recorded anything similar’ said head of the expedition Igor
Semiletov, who has participated in 45 Arctic expeditions.
Bubbling water of the East Siberia Sea. Pictures: Tomsk Polytechnic University
Unexpectedly
high speed of degradation of subsea permafrost has been recorded.
'In
some areas the roof of subsea permafrost thawed to the stability
horizons of gas hydrates. Moreover, it has been proved that over the
past 30 years speed of vertical degradation of subsea permafrost
doubled compared to previous centuries and reached 18 centimetres per
year which is significantly higher than in earlier estimates', said
professor Semiletov.
'This
result makes us reconsider the belief that subsea permafrost is
stable and can only thaw by a few metres by the end of 21st century',
he stressed.
First
video of the largest methane seep (fountain) so far discovered in the
Arctic Ocean, credit Tomsk Politechnic University
KEY
FACTS
Expedition
set off from Arkhangelsk, northwest Russia, on September 17.
It
was organised by Shirshov Institute of Oceanography (Moscow) with the
Ilyichev Pacific Ocean Institute of Oceanography (Vladivostok).
65
scientists from 12 research organisations across 7 countries (Russia,
Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Italy, UK, USA) were on board of
Academician Keldysh research vessel.
Researchers
studied seas of the eastern Arctic: East Siberian sea, Laptev sea and
Kara sea.
Aims
of the expedition were
To
study state of subsea (underwater) permafrost;
To
study flows of greenhouse gases in the Arctic atmosphere;
To
study ecological state of waters and seabed sediments along the
Northern Sea Route (NSR).
What
they actually established
High
levels of degradation of subsea permafrost.
Speed
of vertical degradation of subsea permafrost has doubled compared to
previous centuries and turned out to be higher than earlier
estimates.
Microplastic
has been discovered in seas of the eastern Artic thousands miles away
from residential settlements.
What
else did researchers say?
Elena
Kudryashova, rector of Northern Federal University, Arkhangelsk:
'Another important subject of our research was study of various types
of microplastic in the seas of the eastern Arctic.
'It
is important to compare and analyse results of all expeditions
because microplastic represents a serious threat to organisms and sea
ecosystems as a whole.'
Pictures
of the methane gas seep credit Tomsk Polytechnic University
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