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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 34,
L01603,
doi:10.1029/2006GL027977,
2007
Origin of pingo-like features on the Beaufort Sea shelf and their possible relationship to decomposing methane gas hydrates
Charles K. Paull
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, USA
William Ussler III
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, USA
Scott R. Dallimore
Natural Resources Canada, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada
Steve M. Blasco
Natural Resources Canada, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Thomas D. Lorenson
U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California, USA
Humfrey Melling
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada
Barbara E. Medioli
Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
F. Mark Nixon
Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Fiona A. McLaughlin
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada
Abstract
The Arctic shelf is currently undergoing dramatic thermal changes caused by the continued warming associated with Holocene
sea level rise. During this transgression, comparatively warm waters have flooded over cold permafrost areas of the Arctic
Shelf. A thermal pulse of more than 10°C is still propagating down into the submerged sediment and may be decomposing gas
hydrate as well as permafrost. A search for gas venting on the Arctic seafloor focused on pingo-like-features (PLFs) on the
Beaufort Sea Shelf because they may be a direct consequence of gas hydrate decomposition at depth. Vibracores collected from
eight PLFs had systematically elevated methane concentrations. ROV observations revealed streams of methane-rich gas bubbles
coming from the crests of PLFs. We offer a scenario of how PLFs may be growing offshore as a result of gas pressure associated
with gas hydrate decomposition.
Received 23
August
2006;
accepted 20
November
2006;
published 5
January
2007.
Keywords: Arctic;
methane gas hydrate;
gas venting.
Index Terms: 0702 Cryosphere: Permafrost (0475); 1630 Global Change: Impacts of global change (1225); 3002 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Continental shelf and slope processes (4219); 3004 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Gas and hydrate systems; 9315 Geographic Location: Arctic region (0718, 4207).
Read Full Article (file size: 230987 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Paull, C. K., W. Ussler III, S. R. Dallimore, S. M. Blasco, T. D. Lorenson, H. Melling, B. E. Medioli, F. M. Nixon, and F. A. McLaughlin
(2007),
Origin of pingo-like features on the Beaufort Sea shelf and their possible relationship to decomposing methane gas hydrates,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
34,
L01603,
doi:10.1029/2006GL027977.
Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.
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