Methane emissions from subglacial meltwater of three alpine glaciers in Yukon, Canada

Sarah Elise Sapper; Christian Juncher Jørgensen; Moritz Schroll; Frank  Keppler; Jesper Riis Christiansen

doi:10.1080/15230430.2023.2284456

Methane emissions from subglacial meltwater of three alpine glaciers in Yukon, Canada

Sarah Elise Sapper^*, Christian Juncher Jørgensen, Moritz Schroll, Frank Keppler, Jesper Riis Christiansen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Ecoscience - Arctic Environment

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Subglacial meltwater of land-terminating glaciers in Greenland and Iceland are sources of methane (CH ₄) to the atmosphere, but sparse empirical data exist about the spatial distribution of subglacial CH ₄ production and emission from glaciers in other regions of the world. This study presents the first measurements of CH ₄ emissions from the subglacial meltwater of three outlet glaciers of the St. Elias Mountains in Yukon, Canada. Dissolved CH ₄ concentrations were highly elevated at 45, 135, and 250 times compared to the atmospheric equilibrium concentration in the meltwater of Dusty, Kluane, and Donjek glaciers, respectively. Dissolved CO ₂ concentrations were depleted relative to the atmospheric equilibrium. This points to the meltwater being a source of CH ₄ and a sink of CO ₂. Stable carbon ( ¹³C) and hydrogen ( ²H) isotopic signatures of the subglacial CH ₄ were depleted compared to atmospheric CH ₄ at all sites, indicating both biotic and abiotic sources and possible alteration from bacterial CH ₄ oxidation in the meltwater. No relation was found between CH ₄ concentrations in the meltwater and the meltwater chemistry or the size of the glaciers in this study. These findings suggest that CH ₄ emissions from subglacial environments under alpine glaciers may be a more common phenomenon than previously thought.

Original language	English
Article number	2284456
Journal	Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
Volume	55
Issue	1
Number of pages	13
ISSN	1523-0430
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2023.2284456
Publication status	Published - Dec 2023

Keywords

Methane emissions
alpine glacier
carbon isotopes
subglacial meltwater

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10.1080/15230430.2023.2284456

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title = "Methane emissions from subglacial meltwater of three alpine glaciers in Yukon, Canada",

abstract = "Subglacial meltwater of land-terminating glaciers in Greenland and Iceland are sources of methane (CH 4) to the atmosphere, but sparse empirical data exist about the spatial distribution of subglacial CH 4 production and emission from glaciers in other regions of the world. This study presents the first measurements of CH 4 emissions from the subglacial meltwater of three outlet glaciers of the St. Elias Mountains in Yukon, Canada. Dissolved CH 4 concentrations were highly elevated at 45, 135, and 250 times compared to the atmospheric equilibrium concentration in the meltwater of Dusty, Kluane, and Donjek glaciers, respectively. Dissolved CO 2 concentrations were depleted relative to the atmospheric equilibrium. This points to the meltwater being a source of CH 4 and a sink of CO 2. Stable carbon ( 13C) and hydrogen ( 2H) isotopic signatures of the subglacial CH 4 were depleted compared to atmospheric CH 4 at all sites, indicating both biotic and abiotic sources and possible alteration from bacterial CH 4 oxidation in the meltwater. No relation was found between CH 4 concentrations in the meltwater and the meltwater chemistry or the size of the glaciers in this study. These findings suggest that CH 4 emissions from subglacial environments under alpine glaciers may be a more common phenomenon than previously thought.",

keywords = "Methane emissions, alpine glacier, carbon isotopes, subglacial meltwater",

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Methane emissions from subglacial meltwater of three alpine glaciers in Yukon, Canada. / Sapper, Sarah Elise; Jørgensen, Christian Juncher; Schroll, Moritz et al.
In: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol. 55, No. 1, 2284456, 12.2023.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Methane emissions from subglacial meltwater of three alpine glaciers in Yukon, Canada

AU - Sapper, Sarah Elise

AU - Jørgensen, Christian Juncher

AU - Schroll, Moritz

AU - Keppler, Frank

AU - Riis Christiansen, Jesper

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - Subglacial meltwater of land-terminating glaciers in Greenland and Iceland are sources of methane (CH 4) to the atmosphere, but sparse empirical data exist about the spatial distribution of subglacial CH 4 production and emission from glaciers in other regions of the world. This study presents the first measurements of CH 4 emissions from the subglacial meltwater of three outlet glaciers of the St. Elias Mountains in Yukon, Canada. Dissolved CH 4 concentrations were highly elevated at 45, 135, and 250 times compared to the atmospheric equilibrium concentration in the meltwater of Dusty, Kluane, and Donjek glaciers, respectively. Dissolved CO 2 concentrations were depleted relative to the atmospheric equilibrium. This points to the meltwater being a source of CH 4 and a sink of CO 2. Stable carbon ( 13C) and hydrogen ( 2H) isotopic signatures of the subglacial CH 4 were depleted compared to atmospheric CH 4 at all sites, indicating both biotic and abiotic sources and possible alteration from bacterial CH 4 oxidation in the meltwater. No relation was found between CH 4 concentrations in the meltwater and the meltwater chemistry or the size of the glaciers in this study. These findings suggest that CH 4 emissions from subglacial environments under alpine glaciers may be a more common phenomenon than previously thought.

AB - Subglacial meltwater of land-terminating glaciers in Greenland and Iceland are sources of methane (CH 4) to the atmosphere, but sparse empirical data exist about the spatial distribution of subglacial CH 4 production and emission from glaciers in other regions of the world. This study presents the first measurements of CH 4 emissions from the subglacial meltwater of three outlet glaciers of the St. Elias Mountains in Yukon, Canada. Dissolved CH 4 concentrations were highly elevated at 45, 135, and 250 times compared to the atmospheric equilibrium concentration in the meltwater of Dusty, Kluane, and Donjek glaciers, respectively. Dissolved CO 2 concentrations were depleted relative to the atmospheric equilibrium. This points to the meltwater being a source of CH 4 and a sink of CO 2. Stable carbon ( 13C) and hydrogen ( 2H) isotopic signatures of the subglacial CH 4 were depleted compared to atmospheric CH 4 at all sites, indicating both biotic and abiotic sources and possible alteration from bacterial CH 4 oxidation in the meltwater. No relation was found between CH 4 concentrations in the meltwater and the meltwater chemistry or the size of the glaciers in this study. These findings suggest that CH 4 emissions from subglacial environments under alpine glaciers may be a more common phenomenon than previously thought.

KW - Methane emissions

KW - alpine glacier

KW - carbon isotopes

KW - subglacial meltwater

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Methane emissions from subglacial meltwater of three alpine glaciers in Yukon, Canada

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