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Main Authors: Römer, Miriam, Torres, Marta E, Kasten, Sabine, Kuhn, Gerhard, Graham, Alastair G C, Mau, Susan, Little, Crispin T S, Linse, Katrin, Pape, Thomas, Geprägs, Patrizia, Fischer, David, Wintersteller, Paul, Marcon, Yann, Rethemeyer, Janet, Bohrmann, Gerhard, Shipboard scientific party ANT-XXIX/4
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.835302
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author Römer, Miriam
Torres, Marta E
Kasten, Sabine
Kuhn, Gerhard
Graham, Alastair G C
Mau, Susan
Little, Crispin T S
Linse, Katrin
Pape, Thomas
Geprägs, Patrizia
Fischer, David
Wintersteller, Paul
Marcon, Yann
Rethemeyer, Janet
Bohrmann, Gerhard
Shipboard scientific party ANT-XXIX/4
author_facet Römer, Miriam
Torres, Marta E
Kasten, Sabine
Kuhn, Gerhard
Graham, Alastair G C
Mau, Susan
Little, Crispin T S
Linse, Katrin
Pape, Thomas
Geprägs, Patrizia
Fischer, David
Wintersteller, Paul
Marcon, Yann
Rethemeyer, Janet
Bohrmann, Gerhard
Shipboard scientific party ANT-XXIX/4
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents An extensive submarine cold-seep area was discovered on the northern shelf of South Georgia during R/V Polarstern cruise ANT-XXIX/4 in spring 2013. Hydroacoustic surveys documented the presence of 133 gas bubble emissions, which were restricted to glacially-formed fjords and troughs. Video-based sea floor observations confirmed the sea floor origin of the gas emissions and spatially related microbial mats. Effective methane transport from these emissions into the hydrosphere was proven by relative enrichments of dissolved methane in near-bottom waters. Stable carbon isotopic signatures pointed to a predominant microbial methane formation, presumably based on high organic matter sedimentation in this region. Although known from many continental margins in the world's oceans, this is the first report of an active area of methane seepage in the Southern Ocean. Our finding of substantial methane emission related to a trough and fjord system, a topographical setting that exists commonly in glacially-affected areas, opens up the possibility that methane seepage is a more widespread phenomenon in polar and sub-polar regions than previously thought.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_835302
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2014
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Active methane seepage in the Southern Ocean, off the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia
Römer, Miriam
Torres, Marta E
Kasten, Sabine
Kuhn, Gerhard
Graham, Alastair G C
Mau, Susan
Little, Crispin T S
Linse, Katrin
Pape, Thomas
Geprägs, Patrizia
Fischer, David
Wintersteller, Paul
Marcon, Yann
Rethemeyer, Janet
Bohrmann, Gerhard
Shipboard scientific party ANT-XXIX/4
AWI_Paleo; Center for Marine Environmental Sciences; MARUM; Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions from Marine Sediments @ AWI
An extensive submarine cold-seep area was discovered on the northern shelf of South Georgia during R/V Polarstern cruise ANT-XXIX/4 in spring 2013. Hydroacoustic surveys documented the presence of 133 gas bubble emissions, which were restricted to glacially-formed fjords and troughs. Video-based sea floor observations confirmed the sea floor origin of the gas emissions and spatially related microbial mats. Effective methane transport from these emissions into the hydrosphere was proven by relative enrichments of dissolved methane in near-bottom waters. Stable carbon isotopic signatures pointed to a predominant microbial methane formation, presumably based on high organic matter sedimentation in this region. Although known from many continental margins in the world's oceans, this is the first report of an active area of methane seepage in the Southern Ocean. Our finding of substantial methane emission related to a trough and fjord system, a topographical setting that exists commonly in glacially-affected areas, opens up the possibility that methane seepage is a more widespread phenomenon in polar and sub-polar regions than previously thought.
title Active methane seepage in the Southern Ocean, off the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia
topic AWI_Paleo; Center for Marine Environmental Sciences; MARUM; Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions from Marine Sediments @ AWI
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.835302