Methane fluxes and gas hydrates as well as seismic activity in the Okhotsk Sea

The research works of methane concentration in water column of the Okhotsk Sea from 1984 to 2005 were reviewed.And some regularities of methane distribution in water column in the North-East Sakhalin slope of the Okhotsk Sea were concluded.

Quantification of Methane Fluxes from Hydrocarbon Seeps to the Ocean and Atmosphere:Development of an in situ and Online Gas Flux Measuring System

Natural hydrocarbon seeps in the marine environment are important contributors to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Such gases include methane, which plays a significant role in global carbon cycling and climate change. To accurately quantify the methane flux from hydrocarbon seeps on the seafloor, a specialized in situ and online gas flux measuring(GFM) device was designed to obtain high-resolution time course gas fluxes using the process of equal volume exchange. The device consists of a 1.0-m diameter, 0.9-m tall, inverted conical tent and a GFM instrument that contains a solenoid valve, level transducer, and gas collection chamber. Rising gas bubbles from seeps were measured by laboratory-calibrated GFM instruments attached to the top of the tent. According to the experimental data, the optimal anti-shake time interval was 5 s. The measurement range of the device was 0–15 L min^(-1), and the relative error was ± 1.0%. The device was initially deployed at an active seep site in the Lingtou Promontory seep field in South China Sea. The amount of gas released from a single gas vent was 30.5 m^3 during the measurement period, and the gas flow rate ranged from 22 to 72 Lh^(-1), depending on tidal period, and was strongly negatively correlated with water depth. The measurement results strongly suggest that oceanic tides and swells had a significant forcing effect on gas flux. Low flow rates were associated with high tides and vice versa. The changes in gas volume escaping from the seafloor seeps could be attributed to the hydrostatic pressure induced by water depth. Our findings suggest that in the marine environment, especially in the shallow shelf area, sea level variation may play an important role in controlling methane release into the ocean. Such releases probably also affect atmospheric methane levels.

Floating plants reduced methane fluxes from wetlands by creating a habitat conducive to methane oxidation

Wetlands are one of the important natural sources of atmospheric methane (CH_4),as an important part of wetlands,floating plants can be expected to affect methane release.However,the effects of floating plants on methane release are limited.In this study,methane fluxes,physiochemical properties of the overlying water,methane oxidation potential and rhizospheric bacterial community were investigated in simulated wetlands with floating plants Eichhornia crassipes,Hydrocharis dubia,and Trapa natans.We found that E.crassipes,H.dubia,and T.natans plants could inhibit 84.31%-97.31%,4.98%-88.91%and 43.62%-92.51%of methane fluxes at interface of water-atmosphere compared to Control,respectively.Methane fluxes were negatively related to nutrients concentration in water column but positively related to the aerenchyma proportions of roots,stems,and leaves.At the same biomass,root of E.crassipes (36.44%) had the highest methane oxidation potential,followed by H.dubia (12.99%) and T.natans (11.23%).Forty-five bacterial phyla in total were identified on roots of three plants and 7 bacterial genera (2.10%-3.33%) were known methanotrophs.Type I methanotrophs accounted for 95.07%of total methanotrophs.The pmoA gene abundances ranged from 1.90×10^(16)to 2.30×10^(18)copies/g fresh weight of root biofilms.Abundances of pmoA gene was significantly positively correlated with environmental parameters.Methylotrophy (5.40%) and methanotrophy (3.75%) function were closely related to methane oxidation.This study highlights that floating plant restoration can purify water and promote carbon neutrality partially by reducing methane fluxes through methane oxidation in wetlands.

The Relationship of Sulfate-methane Interface,the Methane Flux and the Underlying Gas Hydrate

The sulfate-methane interface is an important biogeochemical identification interface for the areas with high methane flux and containing gas hydrate. Above the sulfate-methane interface, the sulfate concentration in the sediment is consumed progressively for the decomposition of the organic matter and anaerobic methane oxidation. Below the sulfate-methane interface, the methane concentration increases continuously with the depth. Based on the variation characters of the sulfate and methane concentration around the sulfate-methane interface, it is feasible to estimate the intensity of the methane flux, and thereafter to infer the possible occurrence of gas hydrate. The geochemical data of the pore water taken from the northern slope of the South China Sea show the sulfate-methane interface is relatively shallow, which indicates that this area has the high methane flux. It is considered that the high methane flux is most probably caused by the occurrence of underlying gas hydrate in the northern slope of the South China Sea.

Morphological and Sulfur-Isotopic Characteristics of Pyrites in the Deep Sediments from Xisha Trough,South China Sea

Pyrite is one of the common authigenic minerals in marine sediments.Previous studies have shown that the morphological and isotopic characteristics of pyrite are closely related to the geochemical environment where it is formed.To better understand the for-mation mechanism of authigenic pyrite,we analyzed the isotopic composition,morphology,and distribution of pyrite in the sediment at 500m below the seafloor from Xisha Trough,South China Sea.Mineral morphologies were observed by scanning electron micros-copy and Raman spectrography.X-Ray computed tomography was applied to measure the particle size of pyrite.The size of pyrite crystals in the matrix sediment mainly ranged between 25 and 65µm(av.ca.40µm),although crystals were larger(av.ca.50μm)in the veins.The pyrites had a fine-grained truncated octahedral shape with occasionally well-developed growth steps,which implies the low growth rate and weak anaerobic oxidation of methane-sulfate reduction when pyrite was formed.Theδ^(34)S values of pyrites ranged from+20.8‰Vienna-defined Canyon Diablo Troilite(V-CDT)to+33.2‰V-CDT and from+44.8‰V-CDT to+48.9‰,which suggest two growth stages.In the first stage,with the continuous low methane flux,the pyrite possibly formed in an environment with good access to seawater.In the second stage,the pyrites mainly developed in sediment fractures and appeared in veins,probably due to the limited availability of sulfate.The less exposure of pyrite to the environment in the second stage was probably caused by sediment accumulation or perturbation.In this study,an episodic pyritization process was identified,and the paleoenvironment was reconstructed for the sediment investigated.

Simulating Methane Emissions from the Littoral Zone of a Reservoir by Wetland DNDC Model

The littoral zone of freshwater ecosystems is believed to be a hotspot for methane （CH4） emissions, but in situ measurements are rare. This paper reports a study of CH4 fluxes from the Miyun Reservoir near Beijing in China based on an integrated observational and modelling approach. CH4 fluxes were measured at three sites with different water levels containing nine representative vegetation communities. A process-based model, Wetland-DNDC, was tested against observations for its applicability in simulating CH4 fluxes from the littoral zone of the reservoir. The R^2 values, which showed correlation between the modeled and observed results, were 0.89, 0.81 and 0.49 for the deep water, shallow water and seasonally flooded sites, respectively. The modeled data indicated that the observed CH4 fluxes were mainly driven by water level fluctuations, soil temperature and soil organic matter content. The modeled average annual flux from the littoral zone of Miyun Reservoir was 15.1 g CH4·m^-2, which was comparable with other studies in China. Our study suggests that Wetland-DNDC is a suitable choice as a model for CH4 flux simulation from littoral zone of reservoirs or lakes, although improvements in the vegetation module could enhance the model＇s accuracy and applicability.

GRADIENT MEASUREMENTS OF METHANE FLUX IN LIN'AN RICE PADDIES

From July to September of 1990,CH_4 flux measurements were made in Lin'an rice paddies using gradient profile techniques.Some characteristics of the turbulence structure under the stable conditions have been verified in the surface layer according to the in situ measurements.The semi-empirical turbulent parameters β_m,β_h and β_c and their changes with the stability parameter Ri are given.Observed results indicate that CH_4 flux in the rice-paddy is mainly decided by the methnogenesis and the process of CH4 transport from internal soils to the atmosphere,and that the CH_4 vertical transfer is depressed in the stable surface layer.The CH_4 flux shows that its obvious diurnal changes,and the mean CH_4 flux are higher in nighttime and lower in daytime,and the peaks appear at about 2000 BST at night and 0300 BST in the early morning,respectively.The mean value of CH_4 flux is about 4.18±2.3 mg/m^2 h.