At present, the rate of release of methane is generally too slow to overcome dissolution and oxidation in the ocean to reach the atmosphere, except in very small quantities. However, catastrophic gas venting, which is known to occur elsewhere, could release large amounts of methane over a short period of time.

The strength of such venting depends upon the how much gas is stored locally beneath the seabed and the means by which gas is brought to the seabed from the sub-surface. The research project seeks to define these pathways and to quantify the amount of gas.

Two areas will be investigated, the region of the landward limit of the methane hydrate stability zone, where many bubble plumes occur in water shallower than 400 metres, and, for comparison, a pockmark in the Vestnesa Ridge, at a depth of 1200 metres, from which gas is escaping and is underlain by 'chimneys' that convey gas to the seabed through the hydrate stability zone, where the gas would normally form hydrate.

The project is providing the sub-seabed context for a seabed observatory (MASOX Monitoring Arctic Seafloor - Ocean Exchange), which was established in the shallow plume area in summer 2010 by a European scientific consortium to monitor the activity of the plumes and the physical and chemical fluxes through the seabed.

For more information on the group's webpage click here.