Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are studying methane gas that builds up under the ice, with results that can sometimes be explosive.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are studying methane gas that builds up under the ice.
“In Alaska, almost every lake is releasing methane,” Walter Anthony explained. “In most lakes, the methane is coming from dead plant and animal remains that are decaying in the bottom of the lake sediments. [But] there’s another type of methane that’s more rare, and that is methane that has been trapped in or beneath permafrost for longer periods of time.
“The movement of that gas up into the atmosphere gets impeded by permafrost, because permafrost is less permeable,” Walter Anthony elaborated. “It’s not a perfect seal but it certainly slows down gas that wants to make its way to the surface. So if a lake forms, or you have water running in a river, that surface water has heat in it and it causes the ground to thaw.
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