Over a course of 12 days Dr. Giuliana Panieri and her colleagues from Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE) collected images from seven areas of known methane release in the Arctic Ocean. One of them was Vestnesa Ridge, with over 1000 active seep sites at the depth of over 1000 m.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas stored in the ocean floor in unknown quantities. CAGE is a centre dedicated to assessing the amount of methane stored in these reservoirs, and what impact the methane in the Arctic Ocean may have for ocean environment and climate change. Main focus of the research is gas hydrate, a methane trapped in a solid structure that resembles ice.
Panieri collaborated with scientists and engineers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s MISO Deep-Sea Imaging Facility. The aim was to get a proper view of the deep Arctic Ocean floor.
“We have taken so many samples all over these areas, but we were sampling blind. We needed to see what was going on down there.” says Panieri who is an awe of the results achieved during the two-week cruise.
The system that was used to get these images is based on the ‘TowCam’ design developed by WHOI scientists and engineers, and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. It consists of a color still camera that takes images every 10-15 seconds.
“This is the first time that we have seen these methane seeps in the deep Arctic Ocean areas. The images are amazing.” says Panieri.
The midnight sun allowed for the tow cam system to be deployed 24/7 providing scientist with data that will be crucial in new discoveries in years to come.
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Abiotic of course.
It may be. All we have is circumstantial evidence based on correlation and inference to classify it as a “fossil” fuel. Science suffered a material setback when scientists rejected its frame-based constraints.
It’s a tragic, ironic comedy that scientific evidence, and self-evident knowledge, that human life evolves from conception to a natural, accidental, or premeditated death, has been rejected, while science progresses without the scientific method to regulate its course. The secular incentives (e.g. money, ego, power) that corrupted scientific enterprise and human rights in the past are present in equal parts today.
One thing is certain. The earth is literally awash in hydrocarbons. It is as silly to worry about a shortage of hydrocarbons as it is to worry about a shortage of water. Yet, that is exactly the foolishness we are subjected to everyday by academics, media and policymakers.
The issue is not the supply of hydrocarbons or water, but the cost of delivering the desired quality and quantity for a given application at an acceptable price. That price is not just in terms of money but also in terms of environmental burden.
In terms of how burning hydrocarbons puts CO2 and pollutants (notice the delineation) into the atmosphere, we are still debating the extent to which that is detrimental. I for one am still waiting for a useful number of studies that indicate what the optimum climate is for our existing biosphere. Only then can we know if any change in the climate will be harmful to future generations.
Sadly, it seems that most of what passes for climate science today is merely intended to boost funding for more research that supports policy goals that seem to converge on more socialism, more government, less liberty and certainly a lower standard of living for everyone.
n.n June 25, 2015 at 4:06 pm
Most hydrocarbons on earth are abiotic. The western schools of geology had the misfortune to adopt
the wrong philosophy. Dmitri Mendeleeve was the man responsible for the Russian school of thought
on hydrocarbon geology in the 1870’s. I have studied hydrocarbons as a casual hobby since my high school science teacher told us that the outer planets had atmospheres which included natural gas.
The short version is that I figured out a way to prove Mendeleeve and Dr. Thomas Gold correct and add
to their findings.
After studying topsoil maps of the world, I realized that upland topsoil, soil not in a floodplain, in the
presence of adequate moisture owes its richness to the amount of natural gas which perks through it.
I decided to test my hypothesis in northeastern Kansas where the topsoil is over one meter thick.
I rented an expensive gas analyzer and drove to Kansas. I found a spot where I could dig a test hole.
As the topsoil was very deep, it took a lot of digging to get through the topsoil, well into the subsoil,
below any biomass which could confound my test.
I took a large stainless steel salad bowl which I had inverted, drilled a hole in the now top, soldered
in a compression brass fitting, attached a ¼ “ copper tube long enough to extend above original grade
and attached a closed compression gas valve. I then refilled the hole around the gas line up to grade.
Reconsolidation of the soil was not a problem, because it started to rain as I started to refill.
After waiting 24 hours for gas to accumulate, I attached an adapter to the sniffer on my gas analyzer.
The reading of combustible gases was very high and I realized that the expensive analyzer was overkill. I now
use a combustible gas analyzer which I bought on Amazon for about $180.
I have tested many sites since the original test, 5 on my own property in east Tennessee which has
good soil, but is not nearly as rich as Kansas.
I invite anyone who doesn’t want to take the word of a retired non-PhD to find a plot of rich upland
topsoil and test my findings. Unlike some in the scientific community, I welcome tests of my methods
and findings. It should cost you less than $250 if you dig your own hole.
Topsoil in Kansas is not deep because of tall grass with deep roots. Tall grass with deep roots was naturally selected because it survived more droughts and wildfires in the deep soil.
The geological record shows that CO2 has continuously cycled through the earth’s crust by
the 220 my + layers of carbonaceous rock is easily seen in a trip down the Grand Canyon, reprocessed coming back to the surface as hydrocarbons.