Hundreds of Methane Plumes Erupting Along East Coast

In an unexpected discovery, hundreds of gas plumes bubbling up from the seafloor were spotted during a sweeping survey of the U.S. Atlantic Coast.


Even though ocean explorers have yet to test the gas, the bubbles are almost certainly methane, researchers report today (Aug. 24) in the journal Nature Geoscience.

"We don't know of any explanation that fits as well as methane," said lead study author Adam Skarke, a geologist at Mississippi State University in Mississippi State.

Surprising seeps

Between North Carolina's Cape Hatteras and Massachusetts' Georges Bank, 570 methane seeps cluster in about eight regions, according to sonar and video gathered by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration ship Okeanos Explorer between 2011 and 2013. The vast majority of the seeps dot the continental slope break, where the seafloor topography swoops down toward the Atlantic Ocean basin. [Gallery: Amazing images of Atlantic Methane Seeps]
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news.yahoo.com...

Apparently so far they have discovered 570 methane seeps clustered in 8 regions, and they are stating that there could be 30,000 waiting to be discovered.

So far the guess is that these are methane seeps, more so when the ones they have found in deeper waters are showing to be forming hydrates because of the pressure and cold water so far below the surface.

It goes to show we still haven't discovered everything about our own planet.

Lets just hope that the wrong A-Hole is not at the right place and asks for a light. That could be bad.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

And your thoughts on this are?

This was reported from research done from 2011-2013? So are they all still actively seeping or was it just a few at a time as the years went by, accumulating to this total?

And on top of that, they are just guessing that these seeps are methane so.......

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

Goody.
I looks like when the earth farts we all get blown away.
I think she's been holding this one in for a while...
Get ready.

This is very interesting on a few levels. The resent Seismic activity on the west coast..and I certainly wouldn't want to be on a large vessel that travel through the area.. Aye matey when you sail into a large methane plume you lose all buoyancy, a large plume will sink you instantly.

a reply to: scattergun

Can't big enough plumes cause planes to also fall out of the sky?

originally posted by: Brotherman
a reply to: scattergun

Can't big enough plumes cause planes to also fall out of the sky?

Not sure about planes,but they can sink boats in theory:



The real worry is if the hundreds of plumes are new,as in Siberia.
Because if enough methane is released into the air,we are dead.
It has happened before,during the "Permian Triassic extintion event."
Killed 80% of all life on Earth-Its in the fossil record.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

cant we burn it or somehow use it to our advantage maybe for energy purposes?

Why no extraction methods are not in play to reuse this flammable material Noted article is old but why no way to capture and refine it with under sea like refineries (that are green) to the global layout and wont cause more pollution...

originally posted by: Brotherman
a reply to: Silcone Synapse

cant we burn it or somehow use it to our advantage maybe for energy purposes?

The Japanese are experimenting with collecting methane hydrates off the sea floor,but that is kind of like the "dry ice" version of methane.

I don't think anyone has been trying to tap methane from these direct leaks from the seabed though-it could be you are onto a good idea there.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Tapping from the ground may be dangerous, why not collect it as it is bubbling to the surface and fill large rubber sacs that float on the surface like a big vacuum cleaner that seperates different density trapping methane and releasing clean sea water.

originally posted by: Brotherman
a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Tapping from the ground may be dangerous, why not collect it as it is bubbling to the surface and fill large rubber sacs that float on the surface like a big vacuum cleaner that seperates different density trapping methane and releasing clean sea water.

Tapping from the ground gives you more control. It's no different from drilling for oil. You find a vent, place a concrete seal and pipe around it, then you can add christmas tree valves, you then have control over the escape of the gas; you can let it go to the surface, keep the valve shut or collect the gas and compress it.

A bit strange they are so surprised. The study is pay-walled, so can't really check, maybe there's a reason.


From the same institute (Woods Hole) back in 2007.

Active methane venting observed at giant pockmarks along the U.S. mid-Atlantic shelf break

In July 2004, we carried out a detailed survey of the giant, shelf-edge pockmarks with the R/V Cape Hatteras to determine if methane is actively venting at these sites, and if so, to constrain the source of gas and its fate in the water column.

We made in situ, near-bottom measurements of dissolved methane concentration in the pockmarks and surrounding areas using two emerging technologies, an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and a vehicle-mounted, underway METS methane sensor. We collected cores, pore fluids and water column samples for geochemical analysis to document the presence and nature of gas discharge.

Inset is an overview map of the area with the red star showing the location of the survey area. Visible coastlines in the inset map are, from north to south, the southern tip of New Jersey, the Delmarva Peninsula, and the barrier islands offshore North Carolina.

www.whoi.edu...

When Seafloor Meets Ocean, the Chemistry Is Amazing


There is some irony in the fact that same thing we surface dwellers are sometimes so afraid of is the source of life for thousands of species down in the oceans.

originally posted by: Brotherman
a reply to: Silcone Synapse

cant we burn it or somehow use it to our advantage maybe for energy purposes?

Methane = CH4, CH4 burns with O2 to produce CO2 and H2O (one C binds to two O's, and two H bind to one O)

Then we get CO2

originally posted by: stormcell
Methane = CH4, CH4 burns with O2 to produce CO2 and H2O (one C binds to two O's, and two H bind to one O)

Then we get CO2

If Mother Earth decides to release even a tiny bit of her methane too fast-
We will have no way out.
Leave it in the atmosphere,it poisons us,maybe within months.
We couldn't burn it,as that would also poison the atmosphere-check mate humans.
We would be in the next layer of the fossil record.

Did the last Dinosaurs have similar fleeting ideas that they could stop nature as they watched the gargantuan meteor tear their sky apart?

"Hey look at that -maybe we can eat that giant sky flying glowing thinggg...BOOOOM."

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse

originally posted by: stormcell
Methane = CH4, CH4 burns with O2 to produce CO2 and H2O (one C binds to two O's, and two H bind to one O)

Then we get CO2

If Mother Earth decides to release even a tiny bit of her methane too fast-
We will have no way out.
Leave it in the atmosphere,it poisons us,maybe within months.
We couldn't burn it,as that would also poison the atmosphere-check mate humans.
We would be in the next layer of the fossil record.

Did the last Dinosaurs have similar fleeting ideas that they could stop nature as they watched the gargantuan meteor tear their sky apart?

"Hey look at that -maybe we can eat that giant sky flying glowing thinggg...BOOOOM."

Dinosaurs didn't have opposible thumbs or budweiser, poor things. they did like their steaks big and they liked them rare too bless their little hearts.

a reply to: scattergun
That could explain the bermuda triangle disappearances,it certainly makes more sense than UFO`s or demons or whatever else people are saying is the cause.

I think I had seen this article posted here last year. Well there have been many articles like it.

The problem with capturing methane as it bubbles up is you would need basically a cover think of a pool cover there are a couple issues with that. One it would have to humongous covering the....OCEAN???? Or at least miles/ acres. That would most likely be plastic and susceptible to nature (currents/storms/waves/wind) it could break up. Also pool covers trap heat so more ocean warming and lets hope no whales, dolphins, birds, etc... want to use that area. If there is another way without using some type of cover I can't think of it.

I think the only practical way to collect the hydrates is when they are still semi frozen/condensed on the ocean's bottom.

originally posted by: Brotherman
a reply to: Silcone Synapse

cant we burn it or somehow use it to our advantage maybe for energy purposes?

That methane could not be retrievable.