FastFind »   Lastname: doi:10.1029/ Year: Advanced Search  

AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Index Terms

  • Marine Geology and Geophysics: General or miscellaneous
  • Oceanography: Physical: Turbulence, diffusion, and mixing processes
  • Volcanology: Eruption mechanisms
  • Volcanology: Planetary volcanism
  • General or Miscellaneous: New fields (not classifiable under other headings)

Abstract

Methane escape from gas hydrate systems in marine environment, and methane-driven oceanic eruptions

Youxue Zhang

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Huge quantities of CH4 are stored in marine sediment in the form of methane hydrate, bubbles, and dissolved CH4 in pore water. Here I discuss the various pathways for methane to enter the ocean and atmosphere, including: (i) Methane hydrate dissolution or dissociation as it rises through seawater. The dissociation rate can be 2 to 3 orders of magnitude greater than the dissolution rate. (ii) The dissolution and expansion of a bubble with or without a hydrate shell as it rises through seawater. There is a critical radius (which depends on depth), above which a bubble would reach the surface or even become larger as it rises. I also propose and model the dynamics of a new type of terrestrial gas-driven eruptions: methane-driven oceanic eruptions. Such eruptions not only represent a yet unrecognized geohazard, but also provide a pathway for CH4 to rapidly enter the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.

Published 10 April 2003.

Citation: Zhang, Y. (2003), Methane escape from gas hydrate systems in marine environment, and methane-driven oceanic eruptions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(7), 1398, doi:10.1029/2002GL016658.

Cited By

Please wait one moment ...