Jennifer M. Frederick

Taliks in relict submarine permafrost and methane hydrate deposits: Pathways for gas escape under present and future conditions

We investigate the response of relict Arctic submarine permafrost and gas hydrate deposits to warming and make predictions of methane gas flux to the water column using a 2-D multiphase fluid flow model. Exposure of the Arctic shelf during the last glacial cycle formed a thick layer of permafrost, protecting hydrate deposits below. However, talik formation below paleo-river channels creates permeable pathways for gas migration from depth. An estimate of the maximum gas flux at the present time for conditions at the East Siberian Arctic Seas is 0.2047 kg yr−1 m−2, which produces a methane concentration of 142 nM in the overlying water column, consistent with several field observations. For conditions at the North American Beaufort Sea, the maximum gas flux at the present time is 0.1885 kg yr−1 m−2, which produces a methane concentration of 78 nM in the overlying water column. Shallow sediments are charged with residual methane gas after venting events. Sustained submergence into the future should increase gas venting rate roughly exponentially as sediments continue to warm. Studying permafrost-associated gas hydrate reservoirs will allow us to better understand the Arctics contribution to the global methane budget and global warming.

Effects of submarine groundwater discharge on the present‐day extent of relict submarine permafrost and gas hydrate stability on the Beaufort Sea continental shelf

We investigate the role of submarine groundwater discharge on the offshore temperature and salinity field and its effect on the present-day extent of submarine permafrost and gas hydrate stability on the North American Beaufort Shelf with a two-dimensional numerical model based on the finite volume method. This study finds that submarine groundwater discharge can play a large role in submarine permafrost evolution and gas hydrate stability, suggesting that local hydrology may control the evolution of submarine permafrost as strongly as does sea level or paleoclimatic conditions. Submarine permafrost evolution shows transient behavior over potentially long time scales (e.g., several glacial cycles) before a balance of density- and pressure-driven flows is established with the permeability variations imposed by the overlying permafrost layer. The “detectable” offshore permafrost extent is related to the quasi-stationary location of the saltwater-freshwater transition. Larger values of submarine groundwater discharge allow permafrost to extend farther offshore because fresh pore water preserves relict ice. Therefore, differences in the permafrost extent at locations that share similar paleoclimatic history may be explained in part by differences in the local hydrology. Gas hydrate stability on the North American Beaufort Shelf may be more widespread than currently thought because low-ice saturation, highly degraded submarine permafrost likely exists beyond the boundary detectable by common geophysical methods.

Submarine groundwater discharge as a possible formation mechanism for permafrost-associated gas hydrate on the circum-Arctic continental shelf

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a large-scale, buoyancy-driven, offshore flow of terrestrial groundwater. If SGD occurs within the permafrost-bearing sediments of the circum-Arctic shelf, such fluid circulation may transport large amounts of dissolved methane to the circum-Arctic shelf, aiding the formation of permafrost-associated gas hydrate. We investigate the feasibility of this new permafrost-associated gas hydrate formation mechanism with a 2-D, multiphase fluid flow model, using the Canadian Beaufort Shelf as an example. The numerical model includes freeze/thaw permafrost processes and predicts the unsteady, 2-D methane solubility field for hydrate inventory calculations. Model results show that widespread, low-saturation hydrate deposits accumulate within and below submarine permafrost, even if offshore-flowing groundwater is undersaturated in methane gas. While intrapermafrost hydrate inventory varies widely depending on permafrost extent, subpermafrost hydrate stability remains largely intact across consecutive glacial cycles, allowing widespread subpermafrost accumulation over time. Methane gas escape to the sediment surface (atmosphere) is predicted along the seaward permafrost boundary during the early to middle years of each glacial epoch; however, if free gas is trapped within the forming permafrost layer instead, venting may be delayed until ocean transgression deepens the permafrost table during interglacial periods, and may be related to the spatial distribution of observed pingo-like features (PLFs) on the Canadian Beaufort Shelf. Shallow, gas-charged sediments are predicted above the gas hydrate stability zone at the midshelf to shelf edge and the upper slope, where a gap in hydrate stability allows free gas to accumulate and numerous PLFs have been observed.