Email Print Share

All Images


News Release 10-036

Methane Releases From Arctic Shelf May Be Much Larger and Faster Than Anticipated

Thawing by climate change of subsea layer of permafrost may release stores of underlying, seabed methane

This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.

Illustration showing leakage of methane from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf.

The permafrost of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (an area of about 2 million kilometers squared) is more porous than previously thought. The ocean on top of it and the heat from the mantle below it warm it and make it perforated like Swiss cheese. This allows methane gas stored under it under pressure to burst into the atmosphere. The amount leaking from this locale is comparable to all the methane from the rest of the world's oceans put together. Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation


Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (406 KB)

Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.

Photo of scientists deploying an apparatus to take sonar measurements from the seafloor.

Scientists deploy an apparatus that will allow the research team to take sonar measurements from the seafloor on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf during a research cruise in August 2009. The researchers used sonar to record clouds of bubbles rising from the seafloor

Credit: Igor Semiletov, University of Alaska Fairbanks


Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (1.4 MB)

Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.

Cover of the March 5, 2010 edition of the journal Science.

The researchers' findings are published in the March 5, 2010 edition of the journal Science.

Credit: Copyright AAAS 2010


Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (972 KB)

Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.