Description: In the Arctic Seas, the West Spitsbergen continental margin represents a prominent methane seep area. In this area, free gas formation and gas ebullition as a consequence of hydrate dissociation due to global warming are currently under debate. Recent studies revealed shallow gas accumulation and ebullition of methane into the water column at more than 250 sites in an area of 665 km2. We conducted a detailed study of a subregion of this area, which covers an active gas ebullition area of 175 km2 characterized by 10 gas flares reaching from the seafloor at~245 m up to 50 m water depth to identify the fate of the released gas due to dissolution of methane from gas bubbles and subsequent mixing, transport and microbial oxidation. The oceanographic data indicated a salinity-controlled pycnocline situated ~20 m above the seafloor. A high resolution sampling program at the pycnocline at the active gas ebullition flare area revealed that the methane concentration gradient is strongly controlled by the pycnocline. While high methane concentrations of up to 524 nmol L−1 were measured below the pycnocline, low methane concentrations of less than 20 nmol L−1 were observed in the water column above. Variations in the δ13CCH4 values point to a 13C depleted methane source (~−60‰ VPDB) being mainly mixed with a background values of the ambient water (~−37.5‰ VPDB). A gas bubble dissolution model indicates that ~80% of the methane released from gas bubbles into the ambient water takes place below the pycnocline. This dissolved methane will be laterally transported with the current northwards and most likely microbially oxidized in between 50 and 100 days, since microbial CH4 oxidation rates of 0.78 nmol d−1 were measured. Above the pycnocline, methane concentrations decrease to local background concentration of ~10 nmol L−1. Our results suggest that the methane dissolved from gas bubbles is efficiently trapped below the pycnocline and thus limits the methane concentration in surface water and the air–sea exchange during summer stratification. During winter the lateral stratification breaks down and fractions of the bottom water enriched in methane may be vertically mixed and thus be potentially an additional source for atmospheric methane.

Description: Based on a sediment vibro corer, a tool for the sampling of sub-seafloor groundwater aquifers has been developed and successfully deployed in a coastal area of the western Baltic. The device was designed to obtain pure groundwater samples from coarse sediments to be used for tracer investigations and CFC age dating. Operated from a medium size research vessel, a well pipe tipped with a filter segment is vibrated into the sediment down to the aquifer. Groundwater entering the filter is pumped to the ship by a conventional submersible pump situated in the well's filter tip. Groundwater is continuously analysed on board for O2, salinity, pH, Eh and temperature, prior to sampling for CFC and radioisotope analysis. All parameters indicate that pure groundwater had been obtained. CFC concentrations are very low suggesting that the groundwater of this shallow sub-seafloor aquifer recharged prior to 1950. This finding is in accordance with other hydrogeological evidence that this aquifer, located only 4–5 m below the seafloor, is connected to fairly deep confined sandy aquifers on land of Pleistocene or Miocene age. Applying the method described, it is possible to obtain sufficient sample volumes for analyses of natural groundwater tracers such as radon-222 and CFCs which can be used to trace submarine groundwater discharge as well as the origin of groundwater in such environments.

Description: The deep-sea borehole seal CORK was deployed for the first time on a modern accretionary prism during ODP Leg 146 to the Cascadia Margin. Ten months after the deployment the fluid flow and geochemistry of the borehole fluids was investigated during several dives by DSRV Alvin. The chemical analysis of the borehole fluids revealed methane concentrations of more than 3.5 mM, whereas oxygen and dissolved ions as Cl, NO3, or PO4 are still close to the ambient seawater composition. The exceedingly high methane content measured at the top of the sealed borehole and the observed degassing during the ascent of the submersible indicates that the sampled fluid was initially saturated or close to saturation with respect to CH4. The hydrocarbons are characterized by ratios of 170–200 and δ13C values of − 59.5 to − 62.4%o which indicates a considerable admixture of thermogenic hydrocarbon gases. The occurrence of methane of partly thermogenic origin demonstrates that CH4 enters the sealed borehole in the lower, perforated section (94–178 mbsf) and accumulates at the top of the borehole. This suggests the occurrence of free gas within the encapsulated borehole. Considering the stability field of CH4-hydrates, the formation of these ice-like structures may take place and potentially results in a clogging of the top of the borehole. Such precipitates could result in a decoupling of the top of the borehole from the hydraulic and geochemical regime of the accretionary complex, an important aspect for future plans of CORK deployments.

Description: In near-shore and coastal margin sediments remineralization of organic carbon is significantly affected by biologically mediated solute exchange caused by burrow-dwelling infauna. Although irrigation rates have been determined for various environments, little is known about their seasonal variations and their coupling to the food-supply or the oxygen level in bottom waters. These aspects have been investigated at two sites in the Kiel Bight by modelling pore water concentrations of Cl, which is a suitable tracer for transport processes. A very similar temporal pattern of irrigation was determined at both sites. In spring and fall the effect of bioirrigation on the pore water concentration of Cl is important at both sites, and a more than two to five fold enhancement of solute exchange, relative to diffusional transport, was calculated. The temporal pattern of bioirrigation correlates with that of the Chl.-a (eq) inventory of the surface sediments. Enhanced irrigation rates follow the settling of plankton blooms in this region. During the summer, when low oxygen levels were observed in bottom waters, overall irrigation rates are low. Furthermore, the relative importance of irrigation processes operating close to the sediment surface increases suggesting an upward movement and migration of burrow-dwelling organisms in response to low O2-concentrations. Because bioirrigation is an important transport process coupling organic carbon flux, remineralization at the seafloor, and redox zonation in the sediment quantifying the seasonal cycle of the irrigation intensity represents a step forward in the dynamic understanding of benthic processes.

Description: Production of biogenic silica and dissolution processes in the water column and surface sediment are important aspects for the investigation and reconstruction of present and past productivity of the ocean. Although the geological record of biogenic silica is often used as a proxy for paleoceanographic processes in the Southern Ocean, little is known about the present regional distribution of biogenic silica flux and accumulation and their relation to primary production in surface waters. Based on more than 130 sediment and pore water samples, the regional differences of the biogenic silica flux to the sea floor of the southern South Atlantic were investigated. In contrast to biogenic silica content, the dissolved Si-flux through the sediment/water interface, caused by intense dissolution of BSi in surface sediments, reflects biogenic production in surface waters. This was inferred by observed increases of Si-fluxes in regions of recurrent polynya formation or in the vicinity of Marginal Ice Zones as at the Weddell-Scotia Sea boundary. In the Scotia Sea, where no benthic fluxes were reported before, we found a considerable burial of biogenic silica and biogenic silica fluxes to the sea floor of ∼800–1300 mmol m-2 a-1. This is a significantly higher flux than derived for the known opal accumulation area in the SE Atlantic, further to the east in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, where a flux of ∼600–767 mmol m-2 a-1 was observed. This shows that the Scotia Sea is not a gap within the Circumpolar Antarctic Opal Belt as previously assumed. The geochemical budget for different sub-regions of the South Atlantic was considered by a Geographic Information System. In contrast to most previous attempts, this ensures the accurate consideration of the spatial distribution of sampling sites, a crucial aspect for the accuracy of geochemical budgets. For the South Atlantic we calculated the flux of biogenic silica to the sea floor as ∼5.1×1012 mol a-1. Only ∼0.84×1012 mol a-1 is buried in these sediments, which is considerably less than previous estimates.