Researchers Discover New Source of Methane in the Arctic Ocean

A large reservoir of methane — a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide — was recently discovered on

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Knipovich Ridge in Arctic Ocean

Knipovich Ridge in the Arctic Ocean
Knipovich Ridge in the central Arctic Ocean, according to research published in the journal Geology. The methane in this deposit is locked up in icy crystals of water and gas called hydrates, and it was produced by abiotic geological processes rather than by microbes breaking down organic matter, as most methane is, the authors explain. Until now, scientists had not known that hydrates could contain this type of methane. “Up to 15,000 gigatons of carbon may be stored in the form of hydrates in the ocean floor, but this estimate is not accounting for abiotic methane,” said co-author Jürgen Mienert. “So there is probably much more.”