Methane is of utmost importance as a trace gas in the atmosphere and we know that most of the environmental methane is produced - and also consumed in sediments and the water column of marine and lacustrine systems.
But…, understanding methane dynamics in the aquatic realm is still a major scientific challenge because it is governed by a vast diversity of geological, oceanographic/limnological, biological factors and anthropogenic causes.
In this session we will discuss controls on methane dynamics in marine and freshwater systems at present, in the geological past, and in future scenarios. Within this overarching theme we welcome contributions related to the following topics:
- methane formation: from water-rock interactions to petroleum systems and microbial methanogenesis
- methane transport: from subsurface fluid flow to bubble and diffusive transport mechanisms and fluxes.
- methane seepage and mud volcanoes
- anthropogenic factors: from hydrocarbon exploitation to energy infrastructure and hydraulic structures
- methane sinks: from microbes, biogeochemical pathways and kinetics to physicochemical processes and gas hydrate formation
- timescales: variations on diel, seasonal, and geological time scales
- methane-derived carbonates, microbe-mineral interactions, and molecular/micro/macro fossils
- methane releases in the geological past, consequences and climate change