The Beaufort Sea continental shelf as a seasonal source of atmospheric methane
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Abstract
Methane concentrations in the Beaufort Sea under the winter ice canopy offshore from northern Alaska are 3 to 28 times greater than they are in late summer when the ice is absent in a similar region offshore from northern Canada where methane is in approximate equilibrium with the atmosphere. These observations suggest that methane concentrates in the water under the sea‐ice cover during winter and ventilates rapidly in late summer as the ice melts and retreats. Conditions similar to those on the Beaufort Sea shelf likely exist on the much larger Siberian shelf, making the Arctic Ocean margin a possible seasonal, high‐latitude, marine source of about 0.1 Tg yr−1 atmospheric methane. The small addition of methane likely contributes to the late‐summer increase in atmospheric methane that is observed each year particularly in the northern hemisphere.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | The Beaufort Sea continental shelf as a seasonal source of atmospheric methane |
| Series title | Geophysical Research Letters |
| DOI | 10.1029/93GL02727 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 22 |
| Year Published | 1993 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| Contributing office(s) | Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center |
| Description | 4 p. |
| First page | 2459 |
| Last page | 2462 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Other Geospatial | Beaufort Sea |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |