Methane emissions from high-latitude peatlands during the Holocene from a synthesis of peatland records

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire C. Treat ◽  
Miriam C. Jones ◽  
Laura S. Brosius ◽  
Guido Grosse ◽  
Katey Walter Anthony ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Model ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Wetland Type ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Northern Peatlands

<p>The sources of atmospheric methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) during the Holocene remain widely debated, including the role of high latitude wetland and peatland expansion and fen-to-bog transitions. We reconstructed CH<sub>4 </sub>emissions from northern peatlands from 13,000 before present (BP) to present using an empirical model based on observations of peat initiation (>3600 <sup>14</sup>C dates), peatland type (>250 peat cores), and contemporary CH<sub>4</sub> emissions in order to explore the effects of changes in wetland type and peatland expansion on CH<sub>4</sub> emissions over the end of the late glacial and the Holocene. We find that fen area increased steadily before 8000 BP as fens formed in major wetland complexes. After 8000 BP, new fen formation continued but widespread peatland succession (to bogs) and permafrost aggradation occurred. Reconstructed CH<sub>4</sub> emissions from peatlands increased rapidly between 10,600 BP and 6900 BP due to fen formation and expansion. Emissions stabilized after 5000 BP at 42 ± 25 Tg CH<sub>4</sub> y<sup>-1</sup> as high-emitting fens transitioned to lower-emitting bogs and permafrost peatlands. Widespread permafrost formation in northern peatlands after 1000 BP led to drier and colder soils which decreased CH<sub>4 </sub>emissions by 20% to 34 ± 21 Tg y<sup>-1</sup> by the present day.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Sensitivity of wetland methane emissions to model assumptions: application and model testing against site observations

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 2793-2819 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Meng ◽  
P. G. M. Hess ◽  
N. M. Mahowald ◽  
J. B. Yavitt ◽  
W. J. Riley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Ph ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Rice Paddy ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Biogeochemical Model ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Rice Paddies ◽  
Community Land Model

Abstract. Methane emissions from natural wetlands and rice paddies constitute a large proportion of atmospheric methane, but the magnitude and year-to-year variation of these methane sources are still unpredictable. Here we describe and evaluate the integration of a methane biogeochemical model (CLM4Me; Riley et al., 2011) into the Community Land Model 4.0 (CLM4CN) in order to better explain spatial and temporal variations in methane emissions. We test new functions for soil pH and redox potential that impact microbial methane production in soils. We also constrain aerenchyma in plants in always-inundated areas in order to better represent wetland vegetation. Satellite inundated fraction is explicitly prescribed in the model, because there are large differences between simulated fractional inundation and satellite observations, and thus we do not use CLM4-simulated hydrology to predict inundated areas. A rice paddy module is also incorporated into the model, where the fraction of land used for rice production is explicitly prescribed. The model is evaluated at the site level with vegetation cover and water table prescribed from measurements. Explicit site level evaluations of simulated methane emissions are quite different than evaluating the grid-cell averaged emissions against available measurements. Using a baseline set of parameter values, our model-estimated average global wetland emissions for the period 1993–2004 were 256 Tg CH4 yr−1 (including the soil sink) and rice paddy emissions in the year 2000 were 42 Tg CH4 yr−1. Tropical wetlands contributed 201 Tg CH4 yr−1, or 78% of the global wetland flux. Northern latitude (>50 N) systems contributed 12 Tg CH4 yr−1. However, sensitivity studies show a large range (150–346 Tg CH4 yr−1) in predicted global methane emissions (excluding emissions from rice paddies). The large range is sensitive to (1) the amount of methane transported through aerenchyma, (2) soil pH (±100 Tg CH4 yr−1), and (3) redox inhibition (±45 Tg CH4 yr−1). Results are sensitive to biases in the CLMCN and to errors in the satellite inundation fraction. In particular, the high latitude methane emission estimate may be biased low due to both underestimates in the high-latitude inundated area captured by satellites and unrealistically low high-latitude productivity and soil carbon predicted by CLM4.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of wetland methane emissions to model assumptions: application and model testing against site observations

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 6095-6160 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Meng ◽  
P. G. M. Hess ◽  
N. M. Mahowald ◽  
J. B. Yavitt ◽  
W. J. Riley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Ph ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Grid Cell ◽  
Rice Paddy ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Biogeochemical Model ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Community Land Model

Abstract. Methane emissions from natural wetlands and rice paddies constitute a large proportion of atmospheric methane, but the magnitude and year-to-year variation of these methane sources is still unpredictable. Here we describe and evaluate the integration of a methane biogeochemical model (CLM4Me; Riley et al., 2011) into the Community Land Model 4.0 (CLM4CN) in order to better explain spatial and temporal variations in methane emissions. We test new functions for soil pH and redox potential that impact microbial methane production in soils. We also constrain aerenchyma in plants in always-inundated areas in order to better represent wetland vegetation. Satellite inundated fraction is explicitly prescribed in the model because there are large differences between simulated fractional inundation and satellite observations. A rice paddy module is also incorporated into the model, where the fraction of land used for rice production is explicitly prescribed. The model is evaluated at the site level with vegetation cover and water table prescribed from measurements. Explicit site level evaluations of simulated methane emissions are quite different than evaluating the grid cell averaged emissions against available measurements. Using a baseline set of parameter values, our model-estimated average global wetland emissions for the period 1993–2004 were 256 Tg CH4 yr−1, and rice paddy emissions in the year 2000 were 42 Tg CH4 yr−1. Tropical wetlands contributed 201 Tg CH4 yr−1, or 78 % of the global wetland flux. Northern latitude (>50 N) systems contributed 12 Tg CH4 yr−1. We expect this latter number may be an underestimate due to the low high-latitude inundated area captured by satellites and unrealistically low high-latitude productivity and soil carbon predicted by CLM4. Sensitivity analysis showed a large range (150–346 Tg CH4 yr−1) in predicted global methane emissions. The large range was sensitive to: (1) the amount of methane transported through aerenchyma, (2) soil pH (± 100 Tg CH4 yr−1), and (3) redox inhibition (± 45 Tg CH4 yr−1).

scholarly journals An analysis of atmospheric CH<sub>4</sub> concentrations from 1984 to 2008 with a single box atmospheric chemistry model

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 30259-30282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Tan ◽  
Q. Zhuang
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Methane Flux ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Significant Drop ◽  
Oxidizing Power ◽  
The Mean

Abstract. We present a single box atmospheric chemistry model involving atmospheric methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO) and radical hydroxyl (OH) to analyze atmospheric CH4 concentrations from 1984 to 2008. When OH is allowed to vary, the modeled CH4 is 20 ppb higher than observations from the NOAA/ESRL and AGAGE networks for the end of 2008. However, when the OH concentration is held constant at 106 molecule cm−3, the simulated CH4 shows a trend approximately equal to observations. Both simulations show a clear slowdown in the CH4 growth rate during recent decades, from about 13 ppb yr−1 in 1984 to less than 5 ppb yr−1 in 2003. Furthermore, if the constant OH assumption is credible, we think that this slowdown is mainly due to a pause in the growth of wetland methane emissions. In simulations run for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres separately, we find that the Northern Hemisphere is more sensitive to wetland emissions, whereas the southern tends to be more perturbed by CH4 transportation, dramatic OH change, and biomass burning. When measured CO values from NOAA/ESRL are used to drive the model, changes in the CH4 growth rate become more consistent with observations, but the long-term increase in CH4 is underestimated. This shows that CO is a good indicator of short-term variations in oxidizing power in the atmosphere. The simulation results also indicate the significant drop in OH concentrations in 1998 (about 5% lower than the previous year) was probably due to an abrupt increase in wetland methane emissions during an intense EI Niño event. Using a fixed-lag Kalman smoother, we estimate the mean wetland methane flux is about 128 Tg yr−1 through the period 1984–2008. This study demonstrates the effectiveness in examining the role of OH and CO in affecting CH4.

Speleothem records of changes in tropical hydrology over the Holocene and possible implications for atmospheric methane

The Holocene ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 735-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Burns
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Methane Production ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Direct Response ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Tropical Hydrology ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Methane Concentrations

Recent speleothem records from the tropics of both hemispheres document a gradual decrease in the intensity of the monsoons in the Northern Hemisphere and increase in the Southern Hemisphere monsoons over the Holocene. These changes are a direct response of the monsoons to precession-driven insolation variability. With regard to atmospheric methane, this shift should result in a decrease in Northern Hemisphere tropical methane emissions and increase in Southern Hemisphere emissions. It is plausible that that overall tropical methane production experienced a minimum in the mid-Holocene because of decreased seasonality in rainfall at the margins of the tropics. Changes in tropical methane production alone might, therefore, explain many of the characteristics of Holocene methane concentrations and isotopic chemistry.

scholarly journals Bipolar carbon and hydrogen isotope constraints of the Holocene methane budget

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Beck ◽  
Michael Bock ◽  
Jochen Schmitt ◽  
Barbara Seth ◽  
Thomas Blunier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Methane Concentration ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Anthropogenic Influence ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
Methane Budget ◽  
Natural Emissions

Abstract. Atmospheric methane concentration shows a well-known decrease over the first half of the Holocene following the northern hemisphere summer insolation before it started to increase again to preindustrial values. There is a debate about what caused this change in the methane concentration trend, in particular, whether an early anthropogenic influence or natural emissions led to the reversal of the atmospheric CH4 concentration. Here, we present new methane concentration and stable hydrogen and carbon isotope data measured on ice core samples from both Greenland and Antarctica over the Holocene. With the help of a two-box model and the full suite of CH4 parameters, the new data allow us to quantify the total methane emissions in the northern and southern hemispheres separately as well as their isotopic signatures, while interpretation of isotopic records of only one hemisphere may lead to erroneous conclusions. For the first half of the Holocene our results indicate a decrease in northern and southern hemisphere CH4 emissions by more than 30 Tg CH4/yr in total accompanied by a drop in the northern carbon isotopic source signature of about −3 ‰. This cannot be explained by a change in the source mix alone, but requires shifts in the isotopic signature of the sources themselves caused by changes in the precursor material for the methane production. In the second half of the Holocene global CH4 emissions increased by about 30 Tg CH4/yr, while preindustrial isotopic emission signatures remained more a less constant. However, our results show that the increase of methane emissions starting in the mid-Holocene took place in the southern hemisphere, while northern hemisphere emissions started to increase only about 2000 years ago. Accordingly, natural emissions in the southern tropics appear to be the main cause of the CH4 increase starting 5000 years ago in contradiction to an early anthropogenic influence on the global methane budget by East Asian land use changes.

scholarly journals The role of wetland expansion and successional processes in methane emissions from northern wetlands during the Holocene

2021 ◽  
Vol 257 ◽  
pp. 106864
Author(s):  
Claire C. Treat ◽  
Miriam C. Jones ◽  
Laura Brosius ◽  
Guido Grosse ◽  
Katey Walter Anthony ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Methane Emissions ◽  
The Holocene
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document