CAGE, Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate

Tag: Our researchers

  • CAGE contributes to new findings on methane release from the seabed

    CAGE contributes to new findings on methane release from the seabed

    A new Science paper with contributions from CAGE presents new findings on methane release and global warming.

    Methane seepage from gas hydrates off the coast of Svalbard has been observed regularly. A study now confirms that this seepage has been going on for several thousand years, and therefore cannot solely result from new climate changes driven by mankind.

    Climate change and unstable gas hydrates

    These findings are the result of an international collaboration led by Christian Berndt from Geomar in Kiel, Germany, and was recently presented in Science with CAGEBenedicte Ferre researcher Bénédicte Ferré (pictured right) as co-author.

    One of the main questions CAGE asks is whether future climate changes will increase methane release from gas hydrates in the ocean.

    The researchers can now conclude that previous observations of large contemporary emissions cannot be considered proof of accelerating hydrate destabilization.

    Unknown at what rate methane reservoirs change

    ‘Our findings indicate that methane seepage has been going on longer than first assumed in this area, independent of anthropogenic warming,’ Bénédicte explains.

    However, this does not mean that we can’t draw a line between climate change and unstable gas hydrates.

    ‘This is still worrying because although this seepage is not caused by warming, that doesn’t mean that future global warming won’t cause destabilization of gas hydrates,’ Bénédicte says.

    Gas hydrates are only stable at high pressure and low temperatures. It is therefore of major importance to keep monitoring methane release, particularly in sensitive areas like the Arctic. One of CAGE’s effots for understanding rapid changes in methane release is to install permanent monitoring stations on the ocean floor.

    Read the Science paper here

  • CAGE researchers clarify the Arctic’s role in global climate during the Pliocene

    CAGE researchers clarify the Arctic’s role in global climate during the Pliocene

    The relation between the Arctic and global warming has attracted public awareness over the past years. To really understand the future challenge of climate change we need to understand the climate of the past.

    CAGE researchers Jochen Knies, Karin Andreassen, Soma Baranwal and Karl Fabian have contributed to a recent publication in Earth and Planetary Science Letters which presents new knowledge of the Arctic climate in the Pliocene.

    Crucial event four million years ago

    The researchers conclude that a tectonic uplift event four million years ago intensified the ice build-up during the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation.

    Previously it has been very challenging to study environmental changes in the Arctic Ocean because available data is difficult to date. However, the researchers have now studied a sequence from the Yermak Plateau off northwestern Spitsbergen which they have dated back to the Pliocene (5.33 to 2.58 million years ago).

    They have collected sedimentary and geochemical data which indicate that the terrigenous sediment supply and sources changed abruptly in response to a regional tectonic uplift event. Hence the landmasses were preconditioned for glacial ice build-up during the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation. The result was the first large build-up of glaciers in Scandinavia, Svalbard and the Barents Sea – 2.75 million years ago.

    Important knowledge to understand global warming

    Knowledge about what happened in the Arctic during the Pliocene is important for a better understanding of future climate changes. The sea ice was possibly gone during the summer and the treeline may have been shifted further north compared to today, according to Jochen Knies.

    “I think our findings will be a ‘master stratigraphy’ for the Arctic Ocean in many years to come, until new drilling initiatives are implemented. That means that the interpretations of climate change based upon this sequence will be used a lot by climate modellers to get a better understanding of Pliocene and future climate changes”, says Knies.

    Read the publication here

  • CAGE researcher presents new climate knowledge in Nature

    CAGE researcher presents new climate knowledge in Nature

    Melting glaciers and rising sea levels are certainly not new phenomena. Climate change was dramatic even during the last ice age, says CAGE’s Professor Tine Rasmussen, who recently published an article in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.

    Rasmussen’s article shows that repeated, severe melting of the ice sheet contributed to a very unstable climate even during the Ice Age.

    Read the article here

    Active ice

    Together with Erik Thomsen from Aarhus University in Denmark she has studied sediment cores from the sea off north-western Svalbard. The studies show that the ice sheet shrank and grew again to a much greater extent than assumed during the last ice age.

    Professor Tine Rasmussen.“Our findings show that the ice was incredibly active. In less than 1,000 years it could retreat and grow again”, says Rasmussen (pictured right).

    It is safe to assume that the ice moved several kilometres.

    Important knowledge

    The cold climate during the Ice Age was repeatedly interrupted by short, rapid heating. This knowledge can help us understand what will happen during the global warming we experience today.

    “This information is of great importance, although the consequences of melting ice will be much less dramatic now than during the Ice Age, because there is less ice and temperature changes was much larger back then”, Rasmussen explains.

    Pink clay from Svalbard

    Sediment cores the researchers have investigated contains pink marine sediments. This pink clay can be traced back to 400 million years old red sand stones at Svalbard, and was carried out to sea by melt water from the ice sheet.

    “We can see that the red layers of the ocean floor is formed during the Ice Age’s warm periods, and that proves that every time the temperature rose, water from the melting ice was poured into the ocean”, says Rasmussen.

    “We know from previous studies that in few years the temperatures above Greenland could rise by more than 10 degrees Celsius, and during the Ice Age the ocean’s water level rose and fell several times by as much as 10 to 20 metres”, she says.

    The sediment cores also show that the number of icebergs fell dramatically during these heating periods, and that the ice retreated from the coast.

    This article is also published at Forskning.no (Norwegian version) and ScienceNordic.com.

     

  • New guest student at CAGE

    New guest student at CAGE

    Russian PhD candidate Pavel Serov will be spending the next year as part of the CAGE research team.

    Pavel (pictured below) is a student at the Faculty of Geology at Saint-Petersburg State University. Centre director Jurgen Mienert will be his supervisor during his stay at CAGE, and he will be part of the research group ‘Sub seabed reservoirs’.

    Gas release and permafrostPavel Serov

    Here he will analyse the seabed fluid flow in the South Kara Sea, using geochemical data collected at a research cruise this summer. His goal is to provide new data on the concentrations, composition and origin of gases in sediments and bottom water, and try to specify the relationships between the areas of thawing permafrost and enhanced gas release in this area.

    Pavel is looking forward to spending a year of his PhD studies at a Norwegian Centre of Excellence.

    “I feel good about the atmosphere here, and my new colleagues”, he says.

    – Cold and beautiful

    Pavel has never been in Tromsø before, but is happy with the city.

    “It is very small compared to St. Petersburg, where I come from, but it’s very nice and the landscapes are beautiful”, he says.

    He is however used to the cold climate, and is hoping to get some time for his favourite hobby – snowboarding – whilst living in Northern Norway.

  • A wider perspective

    A wider perspective

    CAGE’s new researcher Anna Silyakova wants to investigate the Arctic with an interdisciplinary eye.

    At CAGE Anna (pictured above) will work across several research groups, mainly investigating methane escape and how this can modify the carbon chemistry in the water column and contribute to on-going ocean acidification.

    In her PhD project she worked with chemical oceanography, while her master’s thesis was on physical oceanography. She thinks this broad background will benefit her in her future research.

    “The Arctic research is getting more interdisciplinary, and I think a broader overview gives you a better understanding of the whole system,” she explains.

    Experience from Norwegian Centre of Excellence

    The Russian researcher came to Norway in 2008, and has spent four years at another Norwegian Centre of Excellence – the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen – where she did her PhD work.

    “I hope to make use of my experience from the Bjerknes Centre here at CAGE,” she says.

    She moved to Tromsø a year ago with her husband, and finished the writing of her PhD thesis here. When she heard about CAGE she didn’t hesitate to express her interest in a research position.

    “High-quality research and good publications make the Norwegian Centres of Excellence well-known nationally and worldwide,” she says.

    – ­Important to popularise

    Anna is passionate about communicating new science, and thinks research is worth little if no-one knows about it. According to her, in addition to publishing papers and presenting work at conferences, there are plenty of ways for researchers to get their message across – using social media, collaborating with schools, or appearing in the media, just to name a few.

    “Every researcher has a responsibility to make his or her research known, by presenting it in the best possible way to all kinds of people,” she says, and adds:

    “That way you’re also a good representative for your institution”.

  • – A unique opportunity

    – A unique opportunity

    Joel Johnson looks forward to spending a year as visiting professor at CAGE.

    Joel JohnsonJoel (pictured right) is an associate professor of geology at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in the US, and is spending the next year on sabbatical leave in Tromsø.

    “When I received the advertisement for positions at CAGE I was immediately motivated to inquire about a possible sabbatical position,” Joel says.

    Long experience with gas hydrate research

    Joel’s research expertise is within marine geology and geophysics, and he has been studying continental margin turbidite and gas hydrate systems since 1999.

    He has plenty of experience from drilling and research expeditions, and has also developed a course on shipboard sedimentology for the IODP, which was taught for the first time last year.

    – Impressive research group

    At CAGE Joel will work across two research groups: ‘Sub seabed: The role of ice ages for fluid flow and methane hydrate’ and ‘Paleo-methane history through the Neogene-Pleistocene’.

    He is looking forward to continue this research in Tromsø, and describes his colleagues at UiT as an impressive research group with broad experience.

    “I wish to capitalize on the opportunity to discuss gas hydrate science with a large hydrate specific research group”, he says, and adds: “This is a very unique and wonderful opportunity to make significant advancements in our field.”

  • From Bologna to Tromsø

    From Bologna to Tromsø

    The opportunity to be part of CAGE inspired Italian Giuliana Panieri to bring her family of four to Northern Norway.

    An offer to study foraminifera organisms in the Arctic was more than the micropalaeontologist could resist.

    “I really wanted to be part of CAGE, and feel like Tromsø is the place I need to be right now”, Giuliana (pictured above) explains enthusiastically.

    The secrets of the foraminifera

    The centre’s new associate professor is mainly interested in foraminifera in methane emission sites. The species distribution and geochemistry of the foraminifera shells can indicate the presence of methane in the marine environment.

    “Foraminifera organisms have a wide geographical distribution in different types of marine environments. That means that they are easy to find. Potentially they also exist in all stratigraphic sections, which make them useful for studying the past”, Giuliana says.

    Micropalaeontology is a traditional discipline which she will use as a new and innovative tool to reveal the foraminifera’s undiscovered secrets. When using this approach, this group of organisms can reveal past methane emissions and related climate changes.

    A future in Tromsø

    Giuliana has visited Tromsø a few times before, and has also been teaching at UiT. Now she is very happy to live here permanently.

    “My husband and I both agree that this will be a good place for the children to grow up. It’s been a big jump, but we definitely see a future here”.

    Her two children have already settled in, and are speaking some Norwegian after just two weeks in Tromsø.

    “When I see them at the international school in the morning, it’s like being in an airport – everyone is talking in their own language. It’s amazing to be in such an open, multicultural society,” Giuliana says.