Fossil mosses are emitting methane after maritime Antarctic glacier retreat

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 199; p. 115959
• Main Authors: Evgrafova, Svetlana Y., Mavlyudov, Bulat R., Chukmasov, Pavel V., Chetverova, Antonina A., Masyagina, Oxana V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2024
• Subjects: Antarctica; CH4; CO2; Fossil mosses; Glacier; Water isotopes; Antarctica; Fossil mosses; Glacier; CH4; Water isotopes; CO2; CO; CH
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115959

In the extraordinary weather conditions of the austral summer of 2023, fossil mosses thawed out from under the Bellingshausen Ice Dome, King George Island, Southern Shetland Archipelago of maritime Antarctica. At the end of the austral summer, we directly measured greenhouse gas fluxes (CH4 and CO2) from the surface of fossil mosses. We showed that fossil mosses were strong emitters of CH4 and weak emitters of CO2. The real-time measured CH4 emissions reached 0.173 μmol m−2 s−1, which is comparable to CH4 efflux in water bodies or wet tundra in the Arctic.
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•Fossil mosses appear from the retreated Antarctic glacier.•Glacier ice in the upper parts of the Bellingshausen Ice Dome emits CH4 and CO2.•Fossil mosses thawed out from the retreated Antarctic glacier are the source of CH4 and CO2.