On possible methane emissions from the East Arctic Seas
V.V. Malakhova, E.N. Golubeva
Russian Academy of Sciences Mathematical Department Novosibirsk Scientific Centre Institute of Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Geophysics SB RAS, prospect Akademika Lavrentjeva, 6, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
malax@sscc.ru. malaxv@list.ru
Keywords: dissolved methane transport, methane flux, methane emissions, Arctic, East Siberian shelf
Abstract
Based on the regional model the Arctic Ocean–North Atlantic, developed in ICMMG SB RAS, the variability of the Arctic Ocean water masses state was simulated for the period from 1948 to 2010. The analysis of the thermohaline characteristics of the East Siberia Shelf water in the model results showed a positive trend in the bottom temperature, which is in agreement with the observational data. Assuming the increase in the gas permeability of the perennial frozen sediment caused by climate change, the numerical simulation of the dissolved methane transport from the bottom reservoirs in the shelf water was performed. According to numerical results obtained in the period from 2002 to 2010, the total methane emission in the Eastern Arctic shelf waters can be estimated from 16 to 54 kilotons per year.
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