Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
9528547 | Marine and Petroleum Geology | 2005 | 12 Pages |
Abstract
Methane (CH4) is the most abundant organic compound in the Earth's atmosphere, where it acts as a greenhouse gas and thus has implications for global climate change. The current atmospheric CH4 budget, however, does not take into account geologically-sourced CH4 seepage. Geological sources of CH4 include natural macro- and micro-seeps, mud volcanoes, and other miscellaneous sources such as gas hydrates, magmatic volcanoes, geothermal regions, and mid-ocean ridges. Macro-seeps contribute â¼25Â Tg (teragrams) CH4/yr to the atmosphere, whereas, micro-seepage contributes perhaps 7Â Tg CH4/yr. Mud volcanoes emit â¼5Â Tg CH4/yr, and miscellaneous sources emit â¼8Â Tg CH4/yr to the atmosphere. Thus, the total contribution to the atmosphere from geological sources is estimated to be 45Â Tg CH4/yr, which is significant to the atmospheric organic carbon cycle and should be included in any global inventory of atmospheric CH4. We argue that the atmospheric CH4 global inventory of the Interplanetary Panel on Climate Change must be adjusted in order to incorporate geologically-sourced CH4 from naturally occurring seepage.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
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Authors
Keith A. Kvenvolden, Bruce W. Rogers,