Mapping and Quantifying Methane Seeps on the Eastern Siberian Shelf and Slope -- A Component of the Swedish Russian U.S. Climate-Cryosphere-Carbon Interactions (SWERUS-C3) Program

绘制和量化东西伯利亚大陆架和斜坡上的甲烷渗漏——瑞典俄罗斯美国气候-冰冻圈-碳相互作用（SWERUS-C3）计划的一部分

• 批准号: 1417789
• 负责人: Larry Mayer
• 金额: $ 29.07万
• 依托单位: University of New Hampshire
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-07-01 至 2017-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1417789&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Mapping; Quantifying; Methane; Seeps; Eastern

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is present in large amounts in frozen soils and marine sediments in the Arctic. In marine sediments, methane may be present either in permafrost or in gas hydrates. Warming of the Arctic may lead to the release of stored methane, leading to further warming and then to further methane releases in a reinforcing cycle. The East Siberian Sea, in the Arctic Ocean, is a large area with a great deal of undersea permafrost and, likely, stored methane. Recent work has suggested large sources of methane from parts of the East Siberian Sea, but the area needs to be mapped and studied in much greater detail before either the amount of methane stored there or the amount being released can be fully understood. In the summer of 2014, an international program called the Swedish-Russian-US Arctic Ocean Investigation of Climate-Cryosphere-Carbon Interactions (SWERUS-C3) will undertake a 90-day expedition to map, and study the carbon cycle in, the East Siberian Sea. The principal investigators of this proposal are leaders in ocean mapping and they have recently pioneered techniques for acoustic imaging of methane plumes released from the seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico. They have been invited by the leaders of the SWERUS-C3 team to participate in one leg of the expedition. They propose to use the multibeam sonar on board the ODEN to locate and characterize gas seeps in the water column and then apply a newly developed wideband transceiver to the split-beam echosounder on board the ODEN to constrain the size and fate of gas bubbles rising to the surface. Together, these acoustic observations will help the SWERUS-C3 team understand the flux of methane from the seafloor into the water column and potentially into the atmosphere. If successful, these techniques will allow the mapping of the gas flux in the Arctic over scales never before possible. This proposal requests support for the participation of the UNH team on this expedition and for post-cruise work-up of the data. The project will support a full time graduate student at UNH. A UNH undergraduate student will participate as well. The SWERUS-C3 program as a whole will support over 15 postdoctoral researchers and graduate students, and has a broad suite of outreach activities planned. The UNH Center for Coastal Ocean Mapping will also incorporate this work into ongoing outreach and education activities.

甲烷是一种有效的温室气体，在北极的冷冻土壤和海洋沉积物中大量存在。在海洋沉积物中，甲烷可能存在于多年冻土或气体水合物中。北极的变暖可能导致储存的甲烷释放，从而进一步变暖，然后在增强周期中进一步释放。东西伯利亚在北极海洋中，是一个大区域，有很多海底多年冻土，并且可能储存了甲烷。最近的工作表明，东西伯利亚部分地区的大量甲烷来源，但是在储存那里的甲烷量或释放量可以完全理解的甲烷量之前，需要对该地区进行绘制和研究。 2014年夏季，一项名为“瑞典 - 俄罗斯 - 美国北极海洋调查”的国际计划，对气候 - 晶体 - 碳相互作用（Swerus-C3）将进行90天的探险，以地图，并研究东西伯利亚海中的碳循环。该提案的主要研究人员是海洋图领域的领导者，最近他们开创了从墨西哥湾海底释放的甲烷羽流的声学成像的技术。 Swerus-C3团队的领导人邀请他们参加一条探险队。他们建议在ODEN上使用多束声纳，以在水柱中定位和表征气体渗漏，然后将新开发的宽带收发器施加到板上的板上回声器，以限制ODEN的限制，以限制气泡的尺寸和命运。这些声学观察在一起将有助于Swerus-C3团队了解从海底进入水柱的甲烷的通量，并可能进入大气。如果成功的话，这些技术将允许在北极绘制北极通量的映射，从来没有做到。该建议要求支持UNH团队参与这次探险和数据后的数据进行支持。该项目将支持UNH的全职研究生。 UNH本科生也将参加。整个Swerus-C3计划将支持15多名博士后研究人员和研究生，并计划进行广泛的外展活动。 UNH沿海海洋地图中心还将将这项工作纳入正在进行的外展和教育活动中。