TY - SER ID - berndt2014iaah T1 - Isotope analysis and heat flow measurements of Maria S. Merian cruise MSM21/4 on the western Svalbard margin AU - Berndt, Christian AU - Feseker, Tomas AU - Treude, Tina AU - Krastel, Sebastian AU - Liebetrau, Volker AU - Niemann, Helge AU - Bertics, Victoria J AU - Dumke, Ines AU - Dünnbier, Karolin AU - Ferre, Benedicte AU - Graves, Carolyn AU - Gross, Felix AU - Hissmann, Karen AU - Hühnerbach, Veit AU - Krause, Stefan AU - Lieser, Kathrin AU - Schauer, Jürgen AU - Steinle, Lea PY - 2014/01/21/ T2 - Supplement to: Berndt, C et al. (2014): Temporal constraints on hydrate-controlled methane seepage off Svalbard. Published Online January 2 2014, Science, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1246298 PB - PANGAEA DO - 10.1594/PANGAEA.824947 UR - https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.824947 N2 - Methane hydrate is an ice-like substance that is stable at high-pressure and low temperature in continental margin sediments. Since the discovery of a large number of gas flares at the landward termination of the gas hydrate stability zone off Svalbard, there has been concern that warming bottom waters have started to dissociate large amounts of gas hydrate and that the resulting methane release may possibly accelerate global warming. Here, we can corroborate that hydrates play a role in the observed seepage of gas, but we present evidence that seepage off Svalbard has been ongoing for at least three thousand years and that seasonal fluctuations of 1-2°C in the bottom-water temperature cause periodic gas hydrate formation and dissociation, which focus seepage at the observed sites. ER -