Methane leakage through the sulfate–methane transition zone of the Baltic seabed

Laura L. Lapham*, Karen G. Lloyd, Henrik Fossing, Sabine Flury, Jørn Bo Jensen, Marc J. Alperin, Gregor Rehder, Wanda Holzhueter, Timothy Ferdelman, Bo Barker Jørgensen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Anaerobic oxidation of methane at the sulfate–methane transition in marine sediments is generally considered to be a near-perfect barrier against methane release from the seabed, but the mechanisms involved are not well understood. On the basis of a survey of Baltic Sea sediments we show that a highly variable amount (0–100%) of subseafloor methane leaks through the sulfate–methane transition. The diffusive methane flux to the sediment–water interface is often high, reaching over 2 mmol m−2 d−1. Even though anaerobic methane oxidation is thermodynamically and kinetically favoured where methane fluxes are high, there is no evidence of methane oxidation in concentration, isotope and modelling results. Cores that lacked anaerobic methane oxidation had high modelled organic matter mineralization rates, suggesting that a possible mechanism could be high electron donor availability due to elevated H2 concentrations, as has been predicted by laboratory studies. We show that methane leakage across the sulfate–methane transition is widespread in organic-rich marine sediments.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature Geoscience
Volume17
Issue12
Pages (from-to)1277-1283
Number of pages7
ISSN1752-0894
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2024

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