Distribution and Discharge of Dissolved Methane in the Middle Okinawa Trough, East China Sea
Widespread seepage of methane from seafloor sediments on continental margins are released into seawater, a portion of which may escape to the atmosphere. To assess the water column distribution characteristics of methane and its input to the atmosphere, we investigated methane emissions from the she...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2020.00333/full |
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| author | Xianrong Zhang Xianrong Zhang Zhilei Sun Zhilei Sun Libo Wang Libo Wang Xilin Zhang Xilin Zhang Bin Zhai Bin Zhai Cuiling Xu Cuiling Xu Wei Geng Wei Geng Hong Cao Hong Cao Xijie Yin Nengyou Wu Nengyou Wu |
| author_facet | Xianrong Zhang Xianrong Zhang Zhilei Sun Zhilei Sun Libo Wang Libo Wang Xilin Zhang Xilin Zhang Bin Zhai Bin Zhai Cuiling Xu Cuiling Xu Wei Geng Wei Geng Hong Cao Hong Cao Xijie Yin Nengyou Wu Nengyou Wu |
| author_sort | Xianrong Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Widespread seepage of methane from seafloor sediments on continental margins are released into seawater, a portion of which may escape to the atmosphere. To assess the water column distribution characteristics of methane and its input to the atmosphere, we investigated methane emissions from the shelf and west slope of the back-arc Okinawa Trough (OT), East China Sea. Our results showed a heterogeneity distribution of methane within the water column. The highest value, which was more than 10 times of the background concentration, occurred near a cold seep in the north of the study area which was discovered by a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). Other sources of methane to the water column of the OT, besides cold seepage input, probably also include in situ aerobic methane production, advective transport from the continental shelf, and/or hydrothermal venting. Furthermore, the sea-to-air flux of methane throughout the study area was up to 116 μmol m–2d–1, noticeably higher than that in many other continental shelf waters and seep sites globally, indicating that this region is an active CH4 emission area. Our findings demonstrate that methane discharged from both cold seeps and hydrothermal vents have a significant influence on the methane cycle in the OT, providing a new insight for the methane budget of back-arc basins. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T20:50:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-414797966ce245cebd576360044a677a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-6463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T20:50:58Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-414797966ce245cebd576360044a677a2022-12-22T01:34:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632020-09-01810.3389/feart.2020.00333552476Distribution and Discharge of Dissolved Methane in the Middle Okinawa Trough, East China SeaXianrong Zhang0Xianrong Zhang1Zhilei Sun2Zhilei Sun3Libo Wang4Libo Wang5Xilin Zhang6Xilin Zhang7Bin Zhai8Bin Zhai9Cuiling Xu10Cuiling Xu11Wei Geng12Wei Geng13Hong Cao14Hong Cao15Xijie Yin16Nengyou Wu17Nengyou Wu18The Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaThe Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaThe Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaThe Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaThe Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaThe Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaThe Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaThe Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaThrid Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen, ChinaThe Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, ChinaWidespread seepage of methane from seafloor sediments on continental margins are released into seawater, a portion of which may escape to the atmosphere. To assess the water column distribution characteristics of methane and its input to the atmosphere, we investigated methane emissions from the shelf and west slope of the back-arc Okinawa Trough (OT), East China Sea. Our results showed a heterogeneity distribution of methane within the water column. The highest value, which was more than 10 times of the background concentration, occurred near a cold seep in the north of the study area which was discovered by a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). Other sources of methane to the water column of the OT, besides cold seepage input, probably also include in situ aerobic methane production, advective transport from the continental shelf, and/or hydrothermal venting. Furthermore, the sea-to-air flux of methane throughout the study area was up to 116 μmol m–2d–1, noticeably higher than that in many other continental shelf waters and seep sites globally, indicating that this region is an active CH4 emission area. Our findings demonstrate that methane discharged from both cold seeps and hydrothermal vents have a significant influence on the methane cycle in the OT, providing a new insight for the methane budget of back-arc basins.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2020.00333/fullmethanedistributiondischargemiddle Okinawa troughcold seepage |
| spellingShingle | Xianrong Zhang Xianrong Zhang Zhilei Sun Zhilei Sun Libo Wang Libo Wang Xilin Zhang Xilin Zhang Bin Zhai Bin Zhai Cuiling Xu Cuiling Xu Wei Geng Wei Geng Hong Cao Hong Cao Xijie Yin Nengyou Wu Nengyou Wu Distribution and Discharge of Dissolved Methane in the Middle Okinawa Trough, East China Sea Frontiers in Earth Science methane distribution discharge middle Okinawa trough cold seepage |
| title | Distribution and Discharge of Dissolved Methane in the Middle Okinawa Trough, East China Sea |
| title_full | Distribution and Discharge of Dissolved Methane in the Middle Okinawa Trough, East China Sea |
| title_fullStr | Distribution and Discharge of Dissolved Methane in the Middle Okinawa Trough, East China Sea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Distribution and Discharge of Dissolved Methane in the Middle Okinawa Trough, East China Sea |
| title_short | Distribution and Discharge of Dissolved Methane in the Middle Okinawa Trough, East China Sea |
| title_sort | distribution and discharge of dissolved methane in the middle okinawa trough east china sea |
| topic | methane distribution discharge middle Okinawa trough cold seepage |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2020.00333/full |
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