This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Meltwater rivers flowing from Svalbard glaciers are carrying ancient methane from rocks beneath the ice into the open air, new research published in Nature Communications shows. The findings reveal a natural feedback loop that may worsen as the Arctic continues to warm.
Melting glaciers can open hidden pathways for methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Put simply, the more glaciers melt, the more methane they are likely to release. The study was led by Gabrielle Kleber, a researcher with the iC3 Polar Research Hub in Tromsø, Norway.
Her team sampled rivers draining valley glaciers across central Svalbard. They found methane in every river they tested. The study team took 148 water samples from 19 glacier-fed rivers in central Svalbard, providing by far the most extensive assessment yet of methane in glacier meltwater in the region.
Every river in their survey contained more methane than expected from contact with the atmosphere, with the highest values reaching 425 times that level. Co-author Silje Waaler says the team deliberately designed the survey to capture the diversity of glaciers across the region. "We wanted to study many different glaciers, across a range of rock types and ice conditions.
That gave us a clearer picture of why some glacier rivers carry more methane than others," she says. A key finding is that this methane is mostly not being made by microbes under the ice, as has been observed beneath glaciers in Greenland. Instead, it appears to come from Svalbard's geology.
Many parts of the archipelago contain old shale layers rich in organic carbon. Over millions of years, heat and pressure can turn this material into methane and other gases. They also analyzed the carbon in the methane to identify its source.
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