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    Surface methane concentrations along the mid-Atlantic bight driven by aerobic subsurface production rather than seafloor gas seeps.

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    Date
    2020-04-04
    Author
    Leonte, Mihai  Concept link
    Ruppel, Carolyn D.  Concept link
    Ruiz-Angulo, Angel  Concept link
    Kessler, John D.  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/26078
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015989
    DOI
    10.1029/2019JC015989
    Keyword
     Methane; Ocean; Isotopes; Gas seeps; Mid Atlantic bight; Oxidation 
    Abstract
    Relatively minor amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, are currently emitted from the oceans to the atmosphere, but such methane emissions have been hypothesized to increase as oceans warm. Here, we investigate the source, distribution, and fate of methane released from the upper continental slope of the U.S. Mid‐Atlantic Bight, where hundreds of gas seeps have been discovered between the shelf break and ~1,600 m water depth. Using physical, chemical, and isotopic analyses, we identify two main sources of methane in the water column: seafloor gas seeps and in situ aerobic methanogenesis which primarily occurs at 100–200 m depth in the water column. Stable isotopic analyses reveal that water samples collected at all depths were significantly impacted by aerobic methane oxidation, the dominant methane sink in this region, with the average fraction of methane oxidized being 50%. Due to methane oxidation in the deeper water column, below 200 m depth, surface concentrations of methane are influenced more by methane sources found near the surface (0–10 m depth) and in the subsurface (10–200 m depth), rather than seafloor emissions at greater depths.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 125(5), (2020): e2019JC015989, doi:10.1029/2019JC015989.
    Collections
    • Energy and Geohazards
    Suggested Citation
    Leonte, M., Ruppel, C. D., Ruiz-Angulo, A., & Kessler, J. D. (2020). Surface methane concentrations along the mid-Atlantic bight driven by aerobic subsurface production rather than seafloor gas seeps. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125(5), e2019JC015989.
     

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