Huge Craters found on Arctic Seafloor due to Potential Methane Eruptions

As revealed by Arctic Ocean floor surveys, about 12,000 years ago hundreds of craters were created due to Methane Eruptions and still discharging Methane and other poisonous gases. Photo Credits: K. Andreassen/CAGE

"The principle is the same as in a pressure cooker: if you do not control the release of the pressure, it will continue to build up until there is a disaster in your kitchen," researcher Karin Andreassen said.

Methane is primary concern of scientists for greenhouse gas production and global warming. Despite the fact that these gigantic cavities were created somewhere in the range of 12,000 years back, methane is as yet spilling lavishly from the pits.

The territory having these craters was concealed by a thick ice layers during the ice ages, just like Western Antarctica is today. Huge amount of Methane got erupted after thinning of ice layers due to global warming and climatic changes. Professor Karin Andreassen, the pioneer author on this subject and a senior member of CAGE Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, has alarmed that these craters have once again started spilling out Methane and other gases after climatic warming. Greenhouse gases are steadily penetrating into our water columns because of more than 600 gas flares in the surroundings of these craters, as reported by Anderson.

Many craters are recently found by the scientists on seafloor of Barents Sea within the territory of Arctic Ocean, adjoining the seashores of Russia and Norway. The centre of attention of researchers is the craters measuring 1,000 to 3,000 feet in radius, around which hundreds more smaller craters are existed.

Craters having same dimensions are found in the Siberian peninsulas, Yamal and Gydan but still these are the largest craters no not larger crates has yet been found. Arctic ocean bears largest reservoirs of theses gases. These gases together with water hydrate mixture having resemblance to ice and when cold remains almost inactive.

These hydrate mixtures remain under ice layers but the pressure enormously mounts on the surface as gas from below feeds to the hydrate mixtures and reluctantly the over-pressured hydrates abruptly erupts the ice surface and create huge craters. In recent history of science, there have been such explosions very rare enough to cause any concern therefore methane explosions are not studied extensively but in future there can be frequent blow-outs of Methane due to global warming resulting in melting of Glaciers and Oceans ice.