The potential response of the hydrate reservoir in the South Shetland Margin, Antarctic Peninsula, to ocean warming over the 21st century

Polar research

Umberta Tinivella¹  Michela Giustiniani¹  Héctor Marín-Moreno² 

[1]National Institute of Experimental Oceanography and Geophysics, Borgo Grotta Gigante 42/C, IT-34010 Sgonico, Trieste, Italy

[2]National Institute of Experimental Oceanography and Geophysics, Borgo Grotta Gigante 42/C, IT-34010 Sgonico, Trieste, ItalyCorrespondence

关键词: Hydrate;    ocean warming;    methane emissions;    transient modelling;    South Shetland Margin;    Antarctic Peninsula.;   

DOI  :  10.3402/polar.v34.27443

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

来源: Co-Action Publishing

【 摘 要 】

In the South Shetland Margin (SSM), Antarctic Peninsula, a bottom-simulating reflector indicates the presence of hydrate between ca. 500 and 3000 m water depth (mwd). The cold seabed temperatures allow hydrate stability at shallower water depths. During the past five decades, the Antarctic Peninsula has been warming up faster than any other part of the Southern Hemisphere, and long-term ocean warming could affect the stability of the SSM hydrate reservoir at shallow waters. Here, we model the transient response of the SSM hydrate reservoir between 375 and 450 mwd to ocean warming for the period 1958–2100. For the period 1958–2010, seabed temperatures are given by oceanographic measurements in the area, and for 2010–2100 by two temperature scenarios represented by the observed trends for the periods 1960–2010 (0.0034°C y−1) and 1980–2010 (0.023°C y−1). Our results show no hydrate-sourced methane emissions for an ocean warming rate at the seabed of 0.0034 °C y−1. For a rate of 0.023°C y−1, emissions start i...

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC