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    A conduit dilation model of methane venting from lake sediments

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    Article (1.624Mb)
    Figure S1: Idealizations of pressure, stress and strain responses of gassy sediments over a uniaxial loading-unloading cycle. (312.0Kb)
    Figure S2: Sensitivity of dimensionless flux to ebullition number. (94.47Kb)
    Additional file information (1.373Kb)
    Date
    2011-03-26
    Author
    Scandella, Benjamin P.  Concept link
    Varadharajan, Charuleka  Concept link
    Hemond, Harold F.  Concept link
    Ruppel, Carolyn D.  Concept link
    Juanes, Ruben  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4454
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL046768
    DOI
    10.1029/2011GL046768
    Keyword
     Greenhouse gas; Methane flux; Freshwater methane; Gas conduits; Effective stress; Ebullition 
    Abstract
    Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, but its effects on Earth's climate remain poorly constrained, in part due to uncertainties in global methane fluxes to the atmosphere. An important source of atmospheric methane is the methane generated in organic-rich sediments underlying surface water bodies, including lakes, wetlands, and the ocean. The fraction of the methane that reaches the atmosphere depends critically on the mode and spatiotemporal characteristics of free-gas venting from the underlying sediments. Here we propose that methane transport in lake sediments is controlled by dynamic conduits, which dilate and release gas as the falling hydrostatic pressure reduces the effective stress below the tensile strength of the sediments. We test our model against a four-month record of hydrostatic load and methane flux in Upper Mystic Lake, Mass., USA, and show that it captures the complex episodicity of methane ebullition. Our quantitative conceptualization opens the door to integrated modeling of methane transport to constrain global methane release from lakes and other shallow-water, organic-rich sediment systems, and to assess its climate feedbacks.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 38 (2011): L06408, doi:10.1029/2011GL046768.
    Collections
    • Energy and Geohazards
    Suggested Citation
    Geophysical Research Letters 38 (2011): L06408
     

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