Project Grant 2226223

This National Science Foundation Project Grant of $208,794 supported research by the University of Maryland, College Park to quantify and characterize the origin of Arctic Ocean methane from the Alaska continental shelf to the North Pole. As part of the international Synoptic Arctic Survey, the research team measured dissolved methane concentrations and stable isotopologues in water columns along a transect from northern Alaska to the North Pole. They investigated sources and processes controlling methane presence using carbon-13 and hydrogen-2 stable isotopes. Clumped isotopes of methane in air were analyzed on selected samples. This work tested the hypothesis that a warming Arctic Ocean may accelerate methane release from permafrost and gas hydrate dissociation in shelf and slope sediments. Results from this June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023 award under the NSF's Polar Programs CFDA 47.078 program aim to improve understanding of the Arctic methane cycle and its response to climate change.