Source apportionment of methane escaping the subsea permafrost system in the outer Eurasian Arctic Shelf

The East Siberian Arctic Shelf holds large amounts of inundated carbon and methane (CH4). Holocene warming by overlying seawater, recently fortified by anthropogenic warming, has caused thawing of the underlying subsea permafrost. Despite extensive observations of elevated seawater CH4 in the past decades, relative contributions from different subsea compartments such as early diagenesis, subsea permafrost, methane hydrates, and underlying thermogenic/ free gas to these methane releases remain elusive. Dissolved methane concentrations observed in the Laptev Sea ranged from 3 to 1,500 nM (median 151 nM; oversaturation by similar to 3,800%). Methane stable isotopic composition showed strong vertical and horizontal gradients with source signatures for two seepage areas of delta C-13-CH4 = (-42.6 +/- 0.5)/(-55.0 +/- 0.5) % and delta D-CH4 = (-136.8 +/- 8.0)/(-158.1 +/- 5.5) %, suggesting a thermogenic/ natural gas source. Increasingly enriched delta C-13-CH4 and delta D-CH4 at distance from the seeps indicated methane oxidation. The Delta C-14-CH4 signal was strongly depleted (i.e., old) near the seeps (-993 +/- 19/-1050 +/- 89%). Hence, all three isotope systems are consistent with methane release from an old, deep, and likely thermogenic pool to the outer Laptev Sea. This knowledge of what subsea sources are contributing to the observed methane release is a prerequisite to predictions on how these emissions will increase over coming decades and centuries.

Automated summary

The study investigates the sources of methane release in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, indicating a significant contribution from submerged carbon and methane. Methane concentrations in the Laptev Sea showed large fluctuations and isotopic composition suggested a thermogenic/natural gas source in two seepage areas, with methane oxidation occurring further from the seeps. This knowledge is crucial for predicting future methane emissions in the region.