Enormous amounts of methane are trapped in the ocean floor worldwide.
The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) uses an underwater mass spectrometer (UWMS) - the Transpector CPM from INFICON – to investigate methane sources.
With its measurement accuracy and speed makes a significant contribution to data stability and user-friendliness.
Methane is a harmful greenhouse gas. Due to tipping point effects, such as the decomposition of gas hydrates in oceans, it is increasingly released into the atmosphere.
In aquatic systems for example, methane can reach the surface through cracks in the sediments. Another submarine source of methane is the microbial decomposition of organic material in lower sediment layers.
As a result of climate change, the marine sediments are warming and releasing the greenhouse gas. The key question is: how much methane is released into the atmosphere and accelerates global warming?
The UWMS consists of a membrane inlet system for sampling and a sensor unit in which the water-soluble gases and light hydrocarbons are measured.
The core of the sensor is a mass spectrometer. The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), for example, relies on the Transpector CPM from INFICON for its research.
For example, in December 2022 the research vessel Polarstern explored methane sources in the South Atlantic using an underwater mass spectrometer.
On board: scientist Dr. Torben Gentz, said the proportion of methane that reaches the atmosphere is crucial for research.
“The denser the outgassing points on the water surface and the less the water column above them is layered with different water masses, the more methane penetrates to the surface,” he said.
The collection and processing of the data is fundamental, as it feeds into the Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Ultimately, reliable measurement methods are needed to determine the role of the oceans in the global climate system.