Abstract
Investigations of distribution and possible sources of methane dissolved in waters of the Okhotsk and western Bering Seas, and in the areaof the Kuril Islands were conducted in summer 1993 during the 24th cruise ofR/V ‘Akademik Nesmeyanov’. In open waters, the background content ofmethane was 30–80 nl CH4 l−1. At somestations, subsurface maxima of CH4 up to 523 nll−1 (up to 683% of saturation), were registered. Theywere associated with biological production. Maximal concentrations ofmethane, up to 5710 nl CH4 l−1 (1363% ofsaturation), were observed in areas of discharge from anaerobic zones ofbottom sediments and oil gas deposits, destruction of crystallohydrates, andemission along fractures in the earth's crust. Migration ofCH4 from bottom sediments resulted in the establishment of amaximum at intermediate depths.
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Dafner, E., Obzhirov, A. & Vereshzhagina, O. Distribution of methane in waters of the Okhotsk and western Bering Seas, and the area of the Kuril Islands. Hydrobiologia 362, 93–101 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003114031011
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003114031011