Posted on 09/15/2007 4:30:55 PM PDT by blam
Source: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Date: September 15, 2007
Lakes Boiling With Methane Discovered In Alaska
Science Daily — Last month, UAF researcher Katey Walter brought a National Public Radio crew to Alaska’s North Slope, hoping to show them examples of what happens when methane is released when permafrost thaws beneath lakes.
When they reached their destination, Walter and the crew found even more than they bargained for: a lake violently boiling with escaping methane.
“It was cold, wet and windy. We were dropped off in the middle of nowhere by a helicopter and paddled out to a huge methane plume in the middle of the lake with no idea what to expect, how strong the bubbling plume would be, whether or not our raft would stay afloat, how dangerous it would be to breath the gas,” said Walter, an assistant professor in UAF’s Institute of Northern Engineering and International Arctic Research Center. “The violent streams of bubbles made the lake appear as if it were boiling, but the water was pretty cold."
Walter studies methane emissions from arctic lakes, especially the connection between thawing permafrost and climate change. As permafrost around a lake’s edges thaws, the organic material in it--dead plants and animals--can enter the lake bottom, where bacteria convert it to methane, which bubbles into the atmosphere, sometimes in a spectacular fashion. Methane is much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Walter said this summer’s fieldwork indicates that methane hotspots, such as the one she and the crew experienced, can come from various sources, not just thawing permafrost. Her next goal is to identify and quantify the sources of the methane hotspots around Alaska.
“It is unlikely that this methane plume was related to permafrost thaw,” said Walter, adding that the methane boiling out of the lake was more likely related to natural gas seepage. “Should large quantities of methane be released from methane hydrates, for instance, in association with permafrost thaw, then we could have large sudden increases in atmospheric methane with potentially large affects on global temperatures.”
Walter’s project is one of many at UAF happening as part of the International Polar Year, an international event that will focus research efforts and public attention on the Earth’s polar regions.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Ping. (Check on your lakes.)
Slope ping
Did these yahoos remember to use Oxygen tanks while paddling out the lake? Or did their bodies morph into a new species that can inhale methane gas?
I’ve witnessed this phenomenon in my bathtub!
The lakes thaw every year. Dead animals was a question, but of course they mean mosquito bodies. They also have biting flies. Don't know what the biting bugs eat since most of them never get near an actual animal with blood.
1. It’s summer
2. Are the caribou ok? God forbid if anything happens to the caribou. Life wouldn’t be worth living if harm came to the caribou.
LOL!!! And such a small body of water!!
It’s not the permafrost melting. Something’s alive down there...and it’s farting.
In other news, our Moon is moving away 1.5 inches a year. Earth is gonna wobble and I hate that when I keep missing my mouth while eating.
We should really find a way to harness cattle farts. The earth would be better for it.
5.56mm
I certainly hope you were "smarter" than those scientists who paddled out to the lake by wearing an approved oxygen mask. However, a wet shirt over your nose and mouth may work too...
...always a great idea to go into an area that may have non-breatheable gases, without taking proper precautions.
It was cold, wet and windy. ...then there was this BOOM!
Methane is combustible.. They are wasting a resource of natural gas.
oh that’s good....sides stll hurtin...
I hope they had explosion-proof oars. Nothing like driving right out into the middle of a methane fart.
Is methane also called natural gas? When did natural resources become evils?
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