Science Daily February 13, 2019
As volcanic activity releases heat, carbon dioxide and methane accumulating underwater and scattered across the seafloor can congeal into liquid and solid hydrates which encapsulate the reservoirs. An international team of researchers (USA – University of Southern California, Australia, Sweden) shows that the natural reservoirs are vulnerable in a warming ocean and provides proof the Earth’s climate has been affected by rapid release of geologic carbon. They focused on the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) which is a primary conduit through which the ocean releases carbon to the atmosphere. Undersea carbon gas reservoirs have been found off the coast of Taiwan, Okinawa, in the Aegean Sea, in the Gulf of California and off the west coast of Canada. We don’t have estimates of the size of these or which ones are particularly vulnerable to destabilization. The study shows that we’ve been missing a critical component of the marine carbon budget. According to the study rapid release of geologic carbon has happened before and it could happen again…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
A deep-sea reservoir near Taiwan spews carbon dioxide when its slurry-like hydrate cap ruptures. Credit: National Academy of Sciences