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Constraints on gas release from shallow lake sediments—a case study from the Sea of Galilee

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Abstract

The presence of methane gas in the shallow sub-surface sediments of the Sea of Galilee, northern Israel, has been well documented over the years. Numerous theories for the mechanism responsible for the release of this gas into the water column have been put forth. These include changes in lake levels, seasonality, and seismic activity. The presence of gas in the sediments has been shown to cause acoustic blanking of the seismic signal. In effect, this means that areas of good seismic penetration are areas where gas is not present in the underlying sediment. In this study, 30 years of high-resolution seismic reflection data from the northwestern corner of the lake was examined. This database has allowed for the examination of changes in the spatial extent of gas in the area over time. Results show that the presence or absence of gas in the sediments does not adhere to one clear governing mechanism as previously assumed, but is rather a combination of factors that must be taken into account.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their in-depth comments and suggestions and Guy Lang, Naama Sarid, Yaron Be’eri-Shlevin, and Marion Alcanie for their extensive help in the field. This research could not have been carried out without the support of the Kinneret Authority, especially Hagai Levin, Yoni Dotan, and Yehuda Nitzani.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dr. Moses Strauss Department of Marine Geosciences, University of Haifa, 3498838, Haifa, Israel

    Michael Lazar

  2. Institute of Marine Sciences-National Research Council (ISMAR CNR), Bologna, Italy

    Luca Gasperini & Alina Polonia

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Matteo Lupi

  4. Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Adriano Mazzini

Authors
  1. Michael Lazar
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  2. Luca Gasperini
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  3. Alina Polonia
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  4. Matteo Lupi
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  5. Adriano Mazzini
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Correspondence to Michael Lazar.

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Lazar, M., Gasperini, L., Polonia, A. et al. Constraints on gas release from shallow lake sediments—a case study from the Sea of Galilee. Geo-Mar Lett 39, 377–390 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-019-00588-w

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