Ebullition of methane from peatlands: does peat act as a signal shredder?

Ramirez, Jorge A.; Baird, Andy J.; Coulthard, Tom J.; Waddington, J. Michael

Abstract

Bubbling (ebullition) of greenhouse gases, particularly methane, from peatlands has been attributed to environmental forcings, such as changes in atmospheric pressure. However, observations from peat soils suggest that ebullition and environmental forcing may not always be correlated and that interactions between bubbles and the peat structure may be the cause of such decoupling. To investigate this possibility, we used a simple computer model (Model of Ebullition and Gas storAge) to simulate methane ebullition from a model peat. We found that lower porosity peat can store methane bubbles for lengthy periods of time, effectively buffering or moderating ebullition so that it no longer reflects bubble production signals. Our results suggest that peat structure may act as a “signal shredder” and needs to be taken into account when measuring and modeling ebullition.

Citation

Ramirez, J. A., Baird, A. J., Coulthard, T. J., & Waddington, J. M. (2015). Ebullition of methane from peatlands: does peat act as a signal shredder?. Geophysical research letters, 42(9), 3371-3379. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015gl063469

• Journal Article Type: Letter
• Acceptance Date: Apr 13, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Apr 15, 2015
• Publication Date: May 16, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jul 31, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 23, 2017
• Journal: Geophysical research letters
• Print ISSN: 0094-8276
• Electronic ISSN: 1944-8007
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 3371-3379
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2015gl063469
• Keywords: Methane; Peatland
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/377278
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015GL063469/abstract
• Additional Information: Copy of article first published in: Geophysical research letters, 2015, v.42, issue 9 at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015GL063469/abstract