Computer simulation strengthens link between climate change and subsea methane

A first-of-its-kind computer simulation that mirrors real-world observations of methane bubbling up from a seabed in the Arctic Ocean provides further evidence that warming oceans may unleash vast quantities of methane trapped in hydrate deposits buried beneath the seafloor. Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases.

The simulations, conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists, focus on oceanic gas hydrates, which are solid crystalline compounds in seafloor sediment. Methane molecules are lodged within the compounds

Scientists are concerned that climate change-induced ocean warming may cause oceanic hydrates to break apart, potentially releasing large amounts of methane into the atmosphere and further accelerating climate change.

They based their simulation on a seafloor off the coast of Spitsbergen, a Norwegian island in the Arctic Ocean where a recent scientific expedition observed more than 250 methane plumes.

Physorg