Abstract
Echo sounders served to locate a large number of shallow- and deepwater gas seeps at the bottom of all three basins of Lake Baikal during the years 2005 to 2008. A substantial proportion of the shallow gas seeps was located near the delta of the Selenga River, and at the Posolskii uplift. Deepwater gas seeps were recorded at the lake bed both inside and outside of areas where a bottom-simulating reflector was identified in seismic profiles. By monitoring the activity of gas emissions at the gas seeps, times of episodic gas ebullition could be distinguished from times of persistent gas bubble streams. A maximum gas flare height of more than 950 m above the bottom was recorded at the St. Petersburg mud volcano located in the central basin of Lake Baikal. Based on calculations from echo sounder data, the ascent velocity of gas bubbles reached 40 cm/s. In the area of gas seepage, there was a thick near-bottom layer, in which the gradient of water temperature was equal to the adiabatic gradient. This implies complete mixing of the water close to the lake bed, resulting from ascending gas bubbles released at seep sites. Analyses of vertical temperature profiles indicate possibly localized upwelling up to the lake surface when gas emissions are intensive.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Artemov YG (2006) Software support for investigation of natural methane seeps by hydroacoustic methods. Mar Ecol J 5:57–71
Blinov VV, Granin NG, Gnatovsky RY, Zhdanov AA, Rimkus S (2006) Determination of water masses in Lake Baikal using T, S—analysis (in Russian). Geogr Prir Resur 2:63–69
Chen CT, Millero FJ (1986) Precise thermodynamic properties for natural waters covering only the limnological range. Limnol Oceanogr 31:657–662
De Batist M, Klerkx J, Van Rensbergen P, Vanneste M, Poort J, Golmshtok A, Kremlev A, Khlystov O, Krinitsky P (2002) Active hydrate destabilization in Lake Baikal, Siberia? Terra Nova 14:436–442
Golmshtok AY, Duchkov AD, Hutchinson S, Khanukaev SB, Elnikov AI (1997) Estimations of heat flow on Baikal from seismic data on the lower boundary of the gas hydrate layer. Russ Geol Geophys 38:1677–1691
Granin NG (1999) Stratification stability and some mechanisms generating convection in Lake Baikal (in Russian). PhD Thesis, Irkutsk
Granin NG, Granina LZ (2002) Gas hydrates and gas venting in Lake Baikal. Russ Geol Geophys 43:629–637
Greinert J, Artemov Y, Egorov V, De Batist M, McGinnis D (2006) 1300-m-high rising bubbles from mud volcanoes at 2080 m in the Black Sea: hydroacoustic characteristics and temporal variability. Earth Planet Sci Lett 244:1–15
Hohmann R, Kipfer R, Peeters F, Piepke G, Imboden DM, Shimaraev MN (1997) Processes of deep-water renewal in Lake Baikal. Limnol Oceanogr 42:841–855
Isaev VP (2001) About gas paleovolcanism on Lake Baikal (in Russian). Geol Nefti Gaza (Geol Oil Gas) 5:45–50
Kalmychkov GV, Egorov AV, Kuz’min MI, Khlystov OM (2006) Genetic types of methane from Lake Baikal. Dokl Earth Sci 411:672–675
Kapitanov VA, Tyryshkin IS, Krivolutskii NP, Ponomarev YN, De Batist M, Gnatovsky RYu (2007) Spatial distribution of methane over Lake Baikal surface. Spectrochim Acta A 66:788–795
Khlystov OM (2006) New findings of gas hydrates in the Baikal Bottom sediments. Russ Geol Geophys 47:979–981
Khlystov OM, Gorshkov AG, Egorov AV, Zemskaya TI, Granin NG, Kalmychkov GV, Vorob’eva SS, Pavlova ON, Yakup MA, Makarov MM, Moskvin VI, Grachev MA (2007) Oil in the Lake of World Heritage. Dokl Earth Sci 415:682–686
Klerkx J, Zemskaya TI, Matveeva TV, Khlystov OM, Namsaraev BB, Dagurova OP, Golobokova LP, Vorob’eva SS, Pogodaeva TP, Granin NG, Kalmychkov GV, Ponomarchuk VA, Shoji H, Mazurenko LL, Kaulio VV, Solov’ev VA, Grachev MA (2003) Methane hydrates in deep bottom sediments of Lake Baikal. Dokl Earth Sci 393:1342–1346
Klerkx J, De Batist M, Poort J, Hus R, Van Rensbergen P, Khlystov O, Granin N (2006) Tectonically controlled methane escape in Lake Baikal. Advances in the geological storage of carbon dioxide. NATO Science Series, IV. Earth Environ Sci 65:203–219
Kuzmin MI, Kalmychkov GV, Geletij VF, Gnilusha VA, Goreglyad AV, Khakhaev BN, Pevzner LA, Kavai T, Ioshida N, Duchkov AD, Ponomarchuk VA, Kontorovich AE, Bazhin NM, Makhov GA, Dyadin YuA, Kuznetsov FA, Larionov EG, Manakov AYu, Smolyakov BS, Mandelbaum MM, Zheleznyakov NK (1998) First find of gas hydrate in sediments of Lake Baikal. Dokl Earth Sci 362:1029–1032
Logatchev NA (2003) History and geodynamics of the Baikal rift. Russ Geol Geophys 44:391–406
Lomonosov AM, Chekanovskii AL (1897) About the gases escaping from Baikal bottom (in Russian). Trans VSORGO Irkutsk 1:137–145
Mats VD (1993) The structure and development of the Baikal rift depression. Earth-Sci Rev 34(8):81–118
McGinnis DF, Greinert J, Artemov Y, Beaubien SE, Wüest A (2006) Fate of rising methane bubbles in stratified waters: how much methane reaches the atmosphere? J Geophys Res 111:C09007. doi:10.1029/2005JC003183
Naudts L, Artemov Yu, Staelens P, Poort J, Greinert J, Van Rensbergen P, De Batist M (2006) Geological and morphological setting of 2778 methane seeps in the Dnepr paleo-delta, northwestern Black Sea. Mar Geol 227:177–199
Peeters F, Piepke G, Kipfer R, Hohmann R, Imboden DM (1996) Description of stability and neutrally buoyant transport in freshwater lakes. Limnol Oceanogr 41:1711–1724
Schmid M, De Batist M, Granin NG, Kapitanov VA, McGinnis DF, Mizandrontsev IB, Obzhirov AI, Wüest A (2007) Sources and sinks of methane in Lake Baikal: a synthesis of measurements and modeling. Limnol Oceanogr 52:1824–1837
Schmid M, Budnev NM, Granin NG, Sturm M, Schurter M, Wüest A (2008) Lake Baikal deepwater renewal mystery solved. Geophys Res Lett 35(L09605):1–5
Shimaraev MN, Granin NG (1991) Temperature stratification and the mechanism of convection in Lake Baikal (in Russian). Dokl Akad Nauk SSSR 321:831–835
Sloan ED (1990) Clathrate hydrates of natural gases. Marcel Dekker, New York
Van Rensbergen P, De Batist M, Klerkx J, Hus R, Poort J, Vanneste M, Granin N, Khlystov O, Krinitsky P (2002) Sublacustrine mud volcanoes and methane seeps caused by dissociation of gas hydrates in Lake Baikal. Geology 30:631–634
Vanneste M, De Batist M, Golmshtok A, Kremlev A, Veerstig W (2001) Multi-frequency seismic study of gas-bearing sediments in Lake Baikal, Siberia. Mar Geol 172:1–21
Weiss RF, Carmack EC, Koropalov VM (1991) Deep-water renewal and biological production in Lake Baikal. Nature 349(6311):665–669
Wüest A, Ravens TM, Granin NG, Kocsis O, Schurter M, Sturm M (2005) Cold intrusions in Lake Baikal: direct observational evidence for deep-water renewal. Limnol Oceanogr 50:184–196
Acknowledgements
We thank the crew of the research vessels Vereschagin, Titov, and Papanin for their assistance during fieldwork. We are grateful to the director of LIN SB RAS, Academician M.A. Grachev, who helped to organize the expeditions, to D. Jewson for his valuable help with improving the English, and to Gerhard Bohrmann and Jens Greinert for their helpful reviews. The work was partly supported by RFBR grant No. 08-05-98091, Interdisciplinary Projects of SB RAS Nos. 20 and 23, and the Project of Presidium RAS 17.10.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic Supplementary Material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Tables ESM
(PDF 63.9 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Granin, N.G., Makarov, M.M., Kucher, K.M. et al. Gas seeps in Lake Baikal—detection, distribution, and implications for water column mixing. Geo-Mar Lett 30, 399–409 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-010-0201-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-010-0201-3