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Arctic permafrost

Microbial lid on subsea methane

Nature Climate Change volume 5, pages 723–724 (2015)Cite this article

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Submarine permafrost thaw in the Arctic has been suggested as a trigger for the release of large quantities of methane to the water column, and subsequently the atmosphere — with important implications for global warming. Now research shows that microbial oxidation of methane at the thaw front can effectively prevent its release.

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Figure 1: Anaerobic oxidation of methane at a subsea permafrost thaw front.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brett F. Thornton and Patrick Crill are in the Department of Geological Sciences and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden,

    Brett F. Thornton & Patrick Crill

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  1. Brett F. Thornton
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  2. Patrick Crill
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Correspondence to Brett F. Thornton or Patrick Crill.

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Thornton, B., Crill, P. Microbial lid on subsea methane. Nature Clim Change 5, 723–724 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2740

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