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Geochemistry

Bubbles from the deep

Nature volume 483, pages 413–415 (2012)Cite this article

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A study suggests that hydrocarbons released from sedimentary basins formed part of a climatic feedback mechanism that exacerbated global warming during the Eocene epoch.

Gas released from sedimentary basins has been proposed to be a key player in many of the rapid climate changes that occurred in the past 250 million years. The types and sources of the released gases are still debated, but they probably included gases formed by the heating of organic matter around hot magma1, and gases released by the dissociation of gas hydrates (solid compounds that trap gas molecules) found in deep-ocean sediments2. The influence of hydrates is greater in a warming world because higher ocean temperatures can melt methane-bearing gas hydrates, releasing the gas. The methane can then be oxidized to carbon dioxide, causing ocean acidification, and can contribute to global warming because both methane and carbon dioxide are greenhouse gases. Writing in Geophysical Research Letters, Kroeger and Funnell3 suggest another way in which global warming can lead to increased gas emissions from the sea floor.

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Figure 1: Ancient climate change.

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  1. Henrik Svensen is at the Centre for Physics of Geological Processes, University of Oslo, PO Box 1048, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway.,

    Henrik Svensen

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Correspondence to Henrik Svensen.

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Svensen, H. Bubbles from the deep. Nature 483, 413–415 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/483413a

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