Siberian Methane is Leaking from the Ocean Floor's Melting Permafrost

It turns out that Siberian permafrost may be leaking methane. Scientists have found that the seabed offshore the West Yamal Peninsula in Sibera is releasing gas into the water column and to the atmosphere.

Offshore West Yamal, in the Kara Sea, there is permafrost located on the ocean floor. Permafrost is soil that's permanently frozen for two or more years. While the terrestrial Arctic maintains permafrost down to 600 to 800 meters below ground, it's different in the ocean. Water temperatures are close to or above zero degrees. While this would normally mean that it would be impossible to form this layer, about 20,000 years ago the region wasn't covered by water-which is how the permafrost first became established.

"The thawing of permafrost on the ocean floor is an ongoing process, likely to be exaggerated by the global warming of the world's oceans," said Alexey Portnov, one of the researchers, in a news release.

While permafrost continues to thaw, low ocean temperatures have kept it relatively stable. Yet this could change-and already is changing. Scientists have found significant amounts of gas leaking at depths between 20 to 50 meters.  

"If the temperature of the oceans increases by two degrees as suggested by some reports, it will accelerate the thawing to the extreme," said Portnov. "A warming climate could lead to an explosive gas release from the shallow areas."

The findings reveal that it's not just terrestrial permafrost that should concern scientists. Permafrost in the ocean may actually be more unstable. Containing methane, this ice could cause massive releases of the greenhouse gas if temperatures continue to rise.

The findings are published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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