{"id":1801,"date":"2024-12-01T14:27:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T11:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/?p=1801"},"modified":"2025-11-20T12:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T09:38:09","slug":"melting-permafrost-triggers-release-of-hazardous-gases-from-deep-underground-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/2024\/12\/01\/melting-permafrost-triggers-release-of-hazardous-gases-from-deep-underground-sources\/","title":{"rendered":"Melting permafrost triggers release of hazardous gases from deep underground sources"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new physics model suggests that meltwater from thawing permafrost on Russia\u2019s Yamal Peninsula could release methane gas sources at depth, causing explosions that create huge craters on the surface. Meanwhile, thawing permafrost in the Arctic could release cancer-causing radioactive radon. And off the coast of Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard says an underwater volcano-like structure is spewing gas.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A new physics model suggests that meltwater from thawing permafrost on Russia’s Yamal Peninsula could release methane sources deep below, causing explosions that create huge craters at the surface.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0The enormous craters in Siberia’s permafrost may finally have a definitive explanation. They form when pressurized water causes cracks in the permafrost, causing a sudden, explosive release of methane, scientists say.<\/span><\/p>\n

The mysterious craters are 160 feet (50 meters) deep and up to 230 feet (70 meters) wide and first appeared on Russia’s northern Yamal and Gydan peninsulas in 2014. Chunks of rock and ice scattered across the landscape around the craters indicate that they were caused by giant explosions. These strange craters have never been found anywhere else in the Arctic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now new research may finally explain why these explosions only occur in Siberia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are very, very specific conditions that allow this phenomenon to happen,\u201d said study co-author Ana Morgado, a doctoral student and chemical engineer at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about a very narrow geological space.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nPeople stand on the edge of a giant crater in Yamal, which was almost filled with water after the eruption. Alexander Lutsenko<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

No matter how precise these explosions are, they could trigger climate change feedback loops, leading to massive emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It may be a very rare event,” Morgado said. “But the amount of methane released could have a pretty big impact on global warming.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past decade, researchers have put forward several hypotheses about factors that may have contributed to the formation of the Siberian craters, linking them to the melting of permafrost and the breakdown of water and methane crystals called methane hydrates into methane and water.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We knew something was causing the methane hydrate layer to decompose,” Morgado said.<\/span><\/p>\n

To figure out how all these factors were connected, the researchers worked through a series of equations and conducted experiments in a lab that simulated permafrost. They determined that the explosions were likely caused by high pressure, similar to how a balloon explodes when it\u2019s overinflated. Next, they needed to figure out what was causing the hyperpressure.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nThe first observed crater in permafrost, discovered in 2014 on the Yamal Peninsula, Siberia.2024. Morgado et al. Geophysical Research Letters<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

A new study reveals pockets of salty water in permafrost called cryopegs that lie just above methane hydrate. Found only in northern Russia, these cryopegs are the remnants of prehistoric seas that disappeared during the last ice age when temperatures dropped, trapping water in continental-scale ice sheets. Cryopegs remain liquid despite their icy surroundings because of their high pressure and salt content.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the cryopegs are much saltier than the permafrost that surrounds them, meltwater from the thawing permafrost surface flows down into these pockets to equalize the salt concentration between the two reservoirs, according to a study published Sept. 26, 2024, in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. This slowly builds up pressure inside the cryopegs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, the stress becomes so high that cracks form in the permafrost above the cryopegs. This releases pressure within the permafrost. The methane hydrates just below the cryopegs are kept stable by low temperatures and high pressure, so a sudden drop in pressure in these layers can cause the methane to break away from the crystals and turn into gas, causing a huge explosion.<\/span><\/p>\n

The study’s authors noted that these processes likely occur over several decades, so crater-forming explosions are rare.<\/span><\/p>\n

Melting Arctic permafrost could release cancer-causing radioactive radon.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0As permafrost melts due to climate change, it could release more radon, a colorless, odorless gas linked to lung cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists warn that melting Arctic permafrost could release radon, a radioactive gas that can cause cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Permafrost, which keeps the ground frozen year-round in the Arctic, acts as a cap that prevents various gases from escaping into the atmosphere. The most well-known of these is probably methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is released when permafrost melts, thereby accelerating climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in a new paper published in the March issue of Earth-Science Reviews, researchers note that another dangerous gas lurks beneath Arctic permafrost: radon. This colorless, odorless gas is a stage in the radioactive decay of natural uranium. It is known to sometimes accumulate inside homes, especially basements, thereby increasing the long-term risk of lung cancer in residents. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, responsible for 21,000 deaths each year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Radon isn’t always a major problem in the Arctic or near-Arctic regions, where the ground remains frozen year-round. That’s because permafrost keeps the gas from rising from the soil, said Paul Goodfellow, an environmental scientist with the geohazards program at the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Research. But as permafrost thaws, that protective shield is disappearing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nGalen Rowell<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“There are some studies going on right now that look very promising and show how permafrost could potentially expose homeowners to radon,” said Goodfellow, who was not involved in the new study.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goodfellow’s job is to encourage homeowners in Alaska to get radon testing, which can be a challenge given the state’s low population density. Remote communities have limited mail service, he said, making it difficult to get test kits to labs in the lower 48 states for analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the new study, the researchers compiled previous studies of radon in permafrost regions that include both Alaska and the mountains of Harbin, a province in northeastern China. The review suggests that permafrost degradation could lead to radon migration into homes and work spaces, write the researchers, led by Jian Cui of the Harbin Comprehensive Natural Resources Research Center of the China Geological Survey.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, studies of radon migration in permafrost areas are “extremely insufficient,” they added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Permafrost doesn\u2019t melt in an orderly, top-down fashion, said Art Nash, an energy specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. Instead, it melts unevenly, opening up cracks and crevices. Seismic activity, which is common in Alaska, can also create new faults through which radon can migrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also questions about how radon will interact with other gases trapped beneath the permafrost, Nash said. The most worrisome of these is methane, a potent greenhouse gas that, if released in large quantities, could rapidly accelerate global warming. Another troubling issue is methylmercury, a chemical that disrupts the nervous system and can accumulate in water and the tissues of animals up the food chain.<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. Coast Guard says an underwater volcano-like structure is spewing gas off the coast of Alaska<\/strong><\/span>.<\/span> Mapping the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off Alaska has revealed a 1,640-foot-tall structure on the seafloor, but scientists say it is too early to determine the nature of the discovery.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists working with the US Coast Guard have discovered a 1,640-foot-tall (500-metre) structure that resembles an underwater volcano off the coast of Alaska.<\/span><\/p>\n

The structure may be spewing gas, based on data collected from the water above it, but scientists are still unsure. Whether the structure is a volcano or not, it is 5,250 feet (1,600 m) deep at its shallowest point, meaning it poses no risk to navigation, according to the statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nA rendering of a volcano-like formation discovered by scientific teams aboard the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy. NOAA<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Researchers discovered the previously unknown structure during a three-phase mission aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy to map the ocean floor in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.<\/span><\/p>\n

“While analysis is still ongoing, these results are exciting and provide insight into what may lie beneath the ocean’s surface, much of which is unknown in this region,” Megan McGovern, commander of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fairweather, which took part in the mission, said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists discovered the structure during the first leg of the ongoing Healy mission, which is exploring part of the Alaskan Arctic Port Access Route Study (Arctic PARS) area along the northern coast of Alaska. Arctic PARS is assessing the potential for new shipping routes along the entire U.S. Arctic coast, from Cape Prince of Wales on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula to the U.S.-Canada border near Gordon, Alaska.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nCrew members of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy retrieve a measuring instrument from the Chukchi Sea on Oct. 30, 2024. U.S. Coast Guard<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

During the second and third phases of the mission, young scientists will be invited to conduct various types of ocean research, including mapping the seafloor and taking water samples to fill gaps in expert knowledge of these remote areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are underwater volcanoes in Alaska, such as Bogoslof Volcano, but they are located in areas of known volcanism, unlike the feature reported by Healy.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new physics model suggests that meltwater from thawing permafrost on Russia\u2019s Yamal Peninsula could release methane gas sources at depth, causing explosions that create huge craters on the surface. Meanwhile, thawing permafrost in the Arctic could release cancer-causing radioactive radon. And off the coast of Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard says an underwater volcano-like structure is spewing gas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,23,777,539],"tags":[569,365,489,851,850],"class_list":{"0":"post-1801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-klimat","9":"category-climatechange","10":"category-hydrosphere","11":"tag-alaska","12":"tag-arctic","13":"tag-methane","14":"tag-radon","15":"tag-yamal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1803,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1801\/revisions\/1803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}