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PANGAEA.
Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science

Mau, Susan; Römer, Miriam; Torres, Marta E; Bussmann, Ingeborg; Pape, Thomas; Damm, Ellen; Geprägs, Patrizia; Wintersteller, Paul; Hsu, Chieh-Wei; Loher, Markus; Bohrmann, Gerhard (2017): Methane profiles along the continental margin off Svalbard. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.874434, Supplement to: Mau, S et al. (2017): Widespread methane seepage along the continental margin off Svalbard - from Bjørnøya to Kongsfjorden. Scientific Reports, 7, 42997, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep42997

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Abstract:
Numerous articles have recently reported on gas seepage offshore Svalbard, because the gas emission from these Arctic sediments was thought to result from gas hydrate dissociation, possibly triggered by anthropogenic ocean warming. We report on findings of a much broader seepage area, extending from 74° to 79°, where more than a thousand gas discharge sites were imaged as acoustic flares. The gas discharge occurs in water depths at and shallower than the upper edge of the gas hydrate stability zone and generates a dissolved methane plume that is hundreds of kilometer in length. Data collected in the summer of 2015 revealed that 0.02?7.7% of the dissolved methane was aerobically oxidized by microbes and a minor fraction (0.07%) was transferred to the atmosphere during periods of low wind speeds. Most flares were detected in the vicinity of the Hornsund Fracture Zone, leading us to postulate that the gas ascends along this fracture zone. The methane discharges on bathymetric highs characterized by sonic hard grounds, whereas glaciomarine and Holocene sediments in the troughs apparently limit seepage. The large scale seepage reported here is not caused by anthropogenic warming.
Further details:
Bohrmann, Gerhard (2015): Station list and links to master tracks in different resolutions of HEINCKE cruise HE450, Tromsø - Tromsø, 2015-08-25 - 2015-09-08. Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.855527
Bohrmann, Gerhard; Wintersteller, Paul; dos Santos Ferreira, Christian (2016): Swath sonar multibeam bathymetry during HEINCKE cruise HE450 with links to raw data files of bathymetry and water column information. MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University Bremen, PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.857250
Mau, Susan (2015): Station list and links to master tracks in different resolutions of HEINCKE cruise HE449, Trondheim - Tromsø, 2015-08-01 - 2015-08-22. Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.855526
Mau, Susan; Rohardt, Gerd (2016): Continuous thermosalinograph oceanography along HEINCKE cruise track HE449. Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.863416
Römer, Miriam; Mau, Susan (2015): Swath sonar multibeam bathymetry during HEINCKE cruise HE449 with links to raw data files of bathymetry and water column information. MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University Bremen, PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.855885
Coverage:
Median Latitude: 75.271775 * Median Longitude: 13.934607 * South-bound Latitude: 70.869200 * West-bound Longitude: 8.277170 * North-bound Latitude: 79.022500 * East-bound Longitude: 18.827200
Date/Time Start: 2012-08-22T16:01:00 * Date/Time End: 2015-09-07T13:26:00
Size:
2 datasets

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