The significance of methane ebullition

Ebullition is often the dominant pathway of methane release from aquatic ecosystems, yet it has seldom been carefully measured, due to heterogeneity in the spatial distribution and episodic release of gas bubbles. This likely results in an underestimation of total methane emission. We took advantage of ice formation over lake surfaces in NE Siberia to map patterns of ebullition. As ice forms in autumn, bubbles released from lake sediments are continually trapped under the ice at the water surface resulting in stacks of bubbles separated by thin films of ice called `koshkas'. Mapping the distribution of koshkas enabled us to identify `background' patterns of ebullition. In addition, we located `hot-spot' ebullition sites that remain permanently open throughout winter due to exceptionally high rates of methane bubbling. We used random and selective placement of underwater/ under-ice chambers to measure `background' and `hot-spot' fluxes annually. The combination of mapping and chamber measurements among different types of lakes and along lake margins varying in intensity of thermokarst erosion or aquatic plant growth enabled us to 1) improve estimates of total methane emissions from NE Siberian lakes, and to 2) identify landscape processes (thermokarst erosion vs. wetland mat formation) that enhance methane production and emission. Ignoring the contribution from hotspots, background ebullition comprised more than 75% of total methane emissions from lakes. From hotspot sites we measured up to 10-L m-2 of methane per day in early summer. Although hotspots comprised roughly 0.05% of the area along thermokarst margins, where they were most common, ebullition from hotspots contributed approximately 69% of the total ebullition flux. Including the flux from hotspots could increase estimates of CH4 ebullition from thermokarst margins 300%! Thermokarst lakes in Russia comprise a large proportion of the world's high latitude lakes; yet they are understudied. North Siberian lakes differ from most lakes in Alaska and Canada because they are surrounded by ice-rich (50-90% ice) permafrost that facilitates intense thermokarst erosion along lake margins. In turn, organic-rich (~2%) mineral soil subsides into anaerobic lake bottoms, providing a fresh, labile substrate for methanogenesis. Increased thermokarst erosion with climate warming would provide a positive feedback to methane production and emission from lakes. Although thermokarst activity likely results in higher emissions of methane via ebullition from North Siberian lakes than from other northern lakes, results from this study suggest ebullition may be a more important pathway of methane emission than what has been reported to date.