The Earth Chronicles December 25, 2020
A Russian scientist has proposed a new explanation for the rapid warming in the Arctic. A series of strong earthquakes may be to blame, according to a new study.
It would seem, how earthquakes can be connected with climate warming? It turns out that tectonic waves can destroy gas hydrates in the shelf zone, which is why the greenhouse gas methane enters the atmosphere.
In the Arctic, one of the factors affecting climate warming is the release of methane from permafrost and metastable gas hydrates in the shelf zone. Since researchers began monitoring temperatures in the region, they have recorded two periods of sharp warming: the first continued during the 1920s and 30s, and the second began in 1980 and continues to this day.
In his new study, an employee of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Professor Leopold Lobkovsky, put forward a new hypothesis to explain the warming phenomena observed in the Arctic. The scientist suggests that the unexplained sudden changes in temperature could be caused by geodynamic factors. In particular, he pointed to a series of strong earthquakes in the Aleutian arc, which is the closest seismically active area to the Arctic.
To test his hypothesis, the researcher had to answer three questions. First, did the dates of the great earthquakes coincide with the periods of temperature rise? Secondly, what mechanism allowed lithospheric disturbances to spread over 2000 kilometers from the Aleutian Islands to the Arctic shelf? Third, how do these disturbances amplify methane emissions?
More:
https://earth-chronicles.com/science/warming-arctic-may-be-caused-by-earthquakes.html
