Premium
Gas hydrate dissociation prolongs acidification of the Anthropocene oceans
Author(s) -
Boudreau Bernard P.,
Luo Yiming,
Meysman Filip J. R.,
Middelburg Jack J.,
Dickens Gerald R.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl065779
Subject(s) - carbonate , clathrate hydrate , ocean acidification , anthropocene , carbon cycle , carbon dioxide , methane , biogeochemical cycle , oceanography , environmental science , environmental chemistry , geology , earth science , hydrate , ecosystem , climate change , chemistry , ecology , paleontology , organic chemistry , biology
Anthropogenic warming of the oceans can release methane (CH 4 ) currently stored in sediments as gas hydrates. This CH 4 will be oxidized to CO 2 , thus increasing the acidification of the oceans. We employ a biogeochemical model of the multimillennial carbon cycle to determine the evolution of the oceanic dissolved carbonate system over the next 13 kyr in response to CO 2 from gas hydrates, combined with a reasonable scenario for long‐term anthropogenic CO 2 emissions. Hydrate‐derived CO 2 will appreciably delay the neutralization of ocean acidity and the return to preindustrial‐like conditions. This finding is the same with CH 4 release and oxidation in either the deep ocean or the atmosphere. A change in CaCO 3 export, coupled to CH 4 release, would intensify the transient rise of the carbonate compensation depth, without producing any changes to the long‐term evolution of the carbonate system. Overall, gas hydrate destabilization implies a moderate additional perturbation to the carbonate system of the Anthropocene oceans.