{"id":5007,"date":"2020-08-13T12:05:08","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T10:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/cage\/?p=5007"},"modified":"2023-04-04T10:29:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T08:29:46","slug":"we-discovered-new-methane-mounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/cage\/2020\/08\/13\/we-discovered-new-methane-mounds\/","title":{"rendered":"We discovered new methane pingos in the Barents Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Text: Pavel Serov, CAGE.<\/p>\n

We were not supposed to find gas hydrates (flammable ice-like crystals consisting of methane and water) in this CAGE cruise as the expedition objectives were slightly off gas hydrate topics. After 10-days, the long, all-consuming hunt for methane seeps and meltwater channels on the seafloor brought us to the very center of the Barents Sea.<\/p>\n

Many factors have to coincide to form a shallow gas hydrate accumulation: the water depth should be large enough, the temperature should be low enough, there should be a strong supply of methane gas, and some soft sediments should be available to accommodate hydrate. It clicks when you realize that a point you are looking at on the map has it all. It certainly clicked that day when we found a group of seafloor mounds bursting gigantic flares of methane bubbles (figure) rising through the thick and cold layer of seawater. Hydrates.<\/p>\n

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Scanning the seafloor relief and overlying water gives us an idea about where methane gas is leaking from. That is where hydrates are likely to be found. Figure: Pavel Serov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some hours\u00a0later we found ourselves preparing a 1000 kg\u00a0metal pipe (a gravity corer), which we hoped would pierce the methane-bursting mound and reveal\u00a0its\u00a0content. The first attempt did not bring us any\u00a0touchable evidence for burning ice, but plenty\u00a0of\u00a0smell.\u00a0A strong smell of rotten eggs, terribly unpleasant, but\u00a0very\u00a0useful indicator of methane on the seafloor.\u00a0It was worth trying again.\u00a0The second gravity corer was\u00a0certainly not empty. Hydrates and bubbling degassing sediments were sticking out from the pipe.\u00a0That\u2019s what we hoped for!<\/p>\n