Behind the Headlines: Methane and the Global Climate

     I posted two articles in the past week that appeared to contradict one another. The first article is about how Arctic Ocean methane does not reach the atmosphere and how methane seeps play an enormous role in marine life and global climate. Titles are important. They are crucial when trying to gain click-through rates to the web page so sponsors will keep advertising and writers can get paid. Now these titles sound controversial but are not what you think in reality. Read the articles and go past the headlines. Here is the pit of each peach, respectively, because it turns out that they might be related.
      From the first article, we know that methane gas is released from the seabed and increases the concentration of methane during the summer months. However, there is very little movement in the Arctic Ocean during the summer. An important term to introduce here is stratification. Stratification is a process where the layers and bodies of the ocean mix ingredients. In the picture below, fluids of varying densities will layer themselves in a column. We've seen this in elementary science class.

      If we take a stirring rod and attempt to mix these fluids, we may find that some mix better than others. We know that oil in water won't mix but will break up into bubbles of oil until we stop stirring. During the summer months, the Arctic Ocean is density layered and very little gas exchange occurs. Methane may be released but it will not enter the atmosphere until the conditions change and the waters begin mixing again through temperature (thermocline), density (pycnocline), oxygenation (chemocline), or salinity (halocline) variations brought on by the changing of seasons or weather events.

      About a week later, the second article was released and it sounded a bit ominous. However, we are finding out how important these hydrothermal vents are to the biosphere of the ocean. We do know that methane is 25% more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. That is why scientists and ecologists have been concerned about methane releases into the atmosphere. 

carbon dioxide

methane

      Then a fascinating result arose from studying the ecosystem of the methane seeps. The life forms that surround these vents consume a whopping 90% of the methane released! But there is a problem. These vents release more than methane and are being considered by mining companies as possible drill sites for copper, zinc, gold, lead, and silver. Drilling would destroy these habitats as we are beginning to learn how much methane they are withholding from the atmosphere.

Source: geology.com

A word on mentors...

    I don't think I can express the importance of women in science as role models for future aspiring scientists. Women are well-known in communication roles and have been gaining more traction in the science and technology fields. However, these two particular women have played a large role in the way I perceive and present research. They have both been wonderful role models in my time at Roanoke College.

     Dr. Kelly Anderson took me on as a research student in her computational chemistry lab. While we were waiting for further instruction from Dr. Siepmann on which projects we should be investigating, she gave me free reign to look through several papers and I designed a project. I ran two research projects that summer. The first one that I developed was to investigate some of the conformations of carboxylic acids and the role that they played in the formation of cloud condensation nuclei. My intent was to eventually match the findings in the research papers through geometry and energies of a cluster containing water, a carboxylic acid, and a base. We also wanted to see which changes had greater effect: temperature or pressure. The second project was to look back through a high school student's research project to make sure it was accurate. That one dealt with classical nucleation theory of a droplet of all the same molecules. 

Thank you Dr. Anderson for teaching me to trust myself.

     I worked with Dr. Erin Hackett at Coastal Carolina University two summers ago on a risky project. The only reason that it was risky is that we were not sure that we would attain the results that we set out to find. This project was a test to see if we could use seeding particles that are natural to an oyster larvae's environment to measure optical flow. In other words, I got to play with a class IV laser. I also designed the experiment to give us the most accuracy with the least influence from the equipment. What we found is that the nutrients in ocean salt that are used for aquariums can be used as a seeding particle and where as effective as the brown algae that the larvae feed upon. In summary, we use the particles of ocean salt to track flow of fluid while we use high speed cameras to record the motion of the larvae in the turbulent system. The data collected from an up-scaled version of the experiment is in the plan to be processed while waiting for a better camera before continuing with the project. She is conducting several experiments with undergraduate and graduate students. She is an excellent organizer and communicator. I was the first person to take part in this exchange program between Roanoke College and CCU. I can happily say that we are on our third exchange student coming up this summer!

Dr. Matthew Fleenor (Roanoke College Physics), Dio Beck (2nd exchange student), Dr Erin Hackett (CCU), and me!