The peri-coastal areas of Antarctica, the largest ice-free area of the Antarctic continent where atmospheric conditions have generated one of the most extreme environments on the planet, are undergoing degassing from the permafrost.
In the Dry Valleys, peri-coastal areas of Antarctica, the degradation of permafrost (frozen ground) caused by global warming favors the degassing phenomena that could extend along the over 24.000 km of coast of the Antarctic continent. This is what the study foundAntarctic permafrost degassing in Taylor Valley by extensive soil', conducted within the SENECA (SourcE and impact of greeNhousE gasses in AntarctiCA) project, funded by the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) and coordinated by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
"The research, which constitutes the first extensive geochemical campaign conducted in the Antarctic continent, is the result of the international collaboration between INGV, GNS Science (New Zealand), the University of Otago (New Zealand), the University of Oslo (Norway ), the Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Padua and the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering of the National Research Council (Cnr-Igag)”, underlines Fabio Florindo, INGV research manager.
"The areas of Antarctica known as McMurdo Dry Valleys, located in the eastern sector, about 100 kilometers from the American base of McMurdo and New Zealand's Scott Base, constitute the largest ice-free area of the Antarctic continent where the very low humidity, the freezing temperatures (between -14 °C and -30 °C) and katabatic winds of up to 320 km/h have generated one of the most extreme environments on the planet”, explains Alessandra Sciarra, INGV researcher.
Recent studies conducted in the polar regions of the northern hemisphere have revealed that permafrost stability plays an important role in the current carbon cycle, as it can trap considerable amounts of greenhouse gases. Currently, the phenomenon of global warming favors the rapid warming of the Arctic permafrost with the consequent release of significant quantities of greenhouse gases. However, in the Antarctic regions this phenomenon had not yet been sufficiently studied and evaluated.
"In Antarctica, the McMurdo Dry Valleys represent about 10% of the deglaciated soil of the entire continent and, as is the case for the northern polar regions, they tend to warm up even if more slowly. During the southern summer of 2019 - 2020, the first extensive geochemical campaign was carried out on an area of about 22 km2 in Taylor Valley. The investigation allowed surface measurement of the concentration of a wide range of gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen, in the soil and of the flux of CO2 in order to identify the preferential routes of ascent for deep fluids and evaluate their migration mechanismsne”, continues Livio Ruggiero, INGV researcher and scientific manager of the SENECA project.
"Comparing these data with the few previous data available”, adds the researcher, “an increase in carbon dioxide flux was observed, estimated at about 15 tons per day over an area of 21.6 km2. Indeed, the emission of CO2 calculated during the summer period it is about 448.5 tons per month for the whole area".
"The simultaneous presence of anomalies of several gaseous species in the soil of the McMurdo Dry Valleys has allowed the identification of areas characterized by the melting of the active level of permafrost and where the presence of tectonic structures and/or fractures allows these gases to migrate towards the surface . Preliminary data suggest the presence of high quantities of dissolved gases in the brine system under pressure under the permafrost”, continues Giancarlo Ciotoli, Cnr-Igag researcher.
"In the Dry Valleys, the degradation of the permafrost caused by global warming favors degassing phenomena which could not be limited to the Taylor Valley but also extend along the more than 24,000 km of coast of the Antarctic continent. The research findings highlighted the need for further extensive investigations to adequately assess greenhouse gas emissions in regions characterized by the presence of permafrost. Finally, this work has produced a map of CO2 emissions which will be a starting point for future research aimed at evaluating the origin of these gases and at monitoring the greenhouse gas emissions released by the Antarctic permafrost”, concludes Livio Ruggiero.
The research was published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
Study citation: L. Ruggiero, A. Sciarra, A. Mazzini, F. Florindo, G. Wilson, MC Tartarello, C. Mazzoli, JTH Anderson, V. Romano, R. Worthington, S. Bigi, R. Sassi, G. Ciotoli, Antarctic permafrost degassing in Taylor Valley by extensive soil gas investigation, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 866,
2023,161345, ISSN 0048-9697, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161345.
Link: https://www.gns.cri.nz/
Otago https://www.otago.ac.nz/
Oslo https://www.uio.no/english/
---
GLOBAL WARMING |Emission of significant quantities of greenhouse gases from the perennially frozen ground has been detected in Antarctica
The peri-coastal areas of Antarctica, the largest ice-free area of the Antarctic continent where atmospheric conditions have generated one of the most extreme environments on the planet, are undergoing degassing from the permafrost.
In the Dry Valleys, peri-coastal areas of Antarctica, the degradation of permafrost (frozen ground) caused by global warming favors degassing phenomena that could extend along the over 24,000 km of coast of the Antarctic continent. This is what emerged from the study 'Antarctic permafrost degassing in Taylor Valley by extensive soil', conducted within the SENECA (SourcE and impact of greeNhousE gases in AntarctiCA) project, funded by the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) and coordinated by the Institute National Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
"The research, which constitutes the first extensive geochemical survey conducted in the Antarctic continent, is the result of the international collaboration between INGV, GNS Science (New Zealand), the University of Otago (New Zealand), the University of Oslo (Norway), the Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Padua and the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering (IGAG) of the National Research Council (IGAG-CNR)”, points out Fabio Florindo, research director at INGV.
"The areas of Antarctica known as the McMurdo Dry Valleys, located in the eastern sector, about 100 kilometers from the American research station of McMurdo and New Zealand's Scott Base, constitute the largest ice-free area of the Antarctic continent where the very low humidity, the freezing temperatures (between -14 °C and -30 °C) and katabatic winds of up to 320 km/h have generated one of the most extreme environments on the planet”, explains Alessandra Sciarra, researcher at INGV.
Recent studies conducted in the polar regions of the northern hemisphere have revealed that permafrost stability plays an important role in the current carbon cycle, as it can trap considerable amounts of greenhouse gases. Currently, the phenomenon of global warming favors the rapid warming of the Arctic permafrost with the consequent release of significant quantities of greenhouse gases. However, in the Antarctic regions this phenomenon had not yet been sufficiently studied and evaluated.
"In Antarctica, the McMurdo Dry Valleys represent about 10% of the deglaciated ground of the entire continent and, as is the case with the northern polar regions, they tend to warm even if more slowly. During the southern summer of 2019 - 2020, the first extensive geochemical campaign was carried out on an area of approximately 22 km2 in the Taylor Valley. The investigation allowed the surface measurement of the concentration of a wide range of gases in the soil, including carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen, and of the CO2 flux in order to identify the preferential routes of ascent for deep fluids and evaluate the mechanisms of migration”, continues Livio Ruggiero, researcher at INGV and principal investigator of the SENECA project.
"Comparing these data with the few previous data available", adds the researcher, "an increase in the flow of carbon dioxide was observed, estimated at about 15 tons per day over an area of 21.6 km2. In fact, the CO2 emission calculated during the summer period is about 448.5 tons per month for the entire area".
"Furthermore, the simultaneous presence of multiple gas anomalies in the soil of the McMurdo Dry Valleys has allowed the identification of areas characterized by thawing of the active permafrost layer and where the presence of tectonic structures and/or fractures allows these gases to migrate toward the surface . This preliminary data suggests the presence of high quantities of dissolved gases in the over-pressurized subsurface brine system below the permafrost”, continues Giancarlo Ciotoli, researcher at the CNR-IGAG.
"In the Dry Valleys, the degradation of the permafrost caused by global warming favors degassing phenomena which could not be limited to the Taylor Valley but also extend along the over 24,000 km of coast of the Antarctic continent. The research findings highlighted the need for further extensive surveys to adequately assess greenhouse gas emissions in regions characterized by the presence of permafrost. Finally, this work has produced a map of CO2 emissions which could constitute a starting point for future research aimed at evaluating the origin of these gases and at monitoring the greenhouse gas emissions released by the thawing permafrost" concludes Livio Ruggiero.
Study citation: L. Ruggiero, A. Sciarra, A. Mazzini, F. Florindo, G. Wilson, MC Tartarello, C. Mazzoli, JTH Anderson, V. Romano, R. Worthington, S. Bigi, R. Sassi, G Ciotoli, Antarctic permafrost degassing in Taylor Valley by extensive soil gas investigation, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 866,
2023,161345, ISSN 0048-9697, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161345.
Link: https://www.gns.cri.nz/
Otago https://www.otago.ac.nz/
