 merrie says: As temperatures rise, the sea bed grows warmer and frozen water crystals in the sediment break down, allowing methane trapped inside them to escape. OK everyone, let’s remember where we are " the ARCTIC, because this is important. It’s really cold in the Arctic, especially in the deep waters. The gas is normally trapped as “methane hydrate” in sediment under the ocean floor. “Methane hydrate” is an ice-like substance composed of water and methane which is stable under conditions of high pressure and low temperature. As temperatures rise, the hydrate breaks down. So this new evidence shows that methane is stable at water depths greater than 400m off Spitsbergen. Trust me when I note that pressure and temperature are not the only factors " by far " which dictate when the methane can be released. The make up of the sea floor is also important. If it is not stable or strong then the methane can be released in one area and not another under the same temps and pressures. There is also the chemical make up of the water, which varies from region to region and across depths. But wait, it gets even worse: However data collected over 30 years shows it was then stable at water depths as shallow as 360m. Sounds like they have something? No – let me skip ahead to show how little we know about this phenomena , in their own words: Professor Minshull said: “Our survey was designed to work out how much methane might be released by future ocean warming; we did not expect to discover such strong evidence that this process has already started.” “We were slightly surprised that if there was so much methane rising why no one had seen it before. But I think t... |
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