Researchers at Tomsk Polytechnic University have made a discovery that will help more accurately predict climate change and find new deposits gas They proved that ordinary clay in the seabed works as a natural preservative for methane. The minerals literally trap the dangerous gas inside the sediment, preventing it from escaping into the air and warming the planet.
TPU geologists studied samples from the bottom of the Laptev Sea. Scientists collected these samples during expeditions to the Arctic. They were interested in the so-called methane seeps – places where gas oozes directly from the ground under water. Previously, experts knew that such emissions change the chemistry of the ocean, but did not fully understand where some of the gas went.
It turned out that clay minerals absorb it. Tomsk scientists were the first in the world to trace this chain. They heated the rock in the laboratory and saw that samples from methane seep zones emit gas at high temperatures. Background samples from clean areas did not behave this way. This means that clay actually accumulates methane and stores it for years.
This discovery explains why part of natural emissions does not reach the atmosphere. Marine sediments act like a huge plug. They cannot stop all the gas, but they significantly reduce its volume. This is good news for the climate: without the clay filter, there would be even more greenhouse gases in the air.
But the benefits don’t end there. The property of minerals to “remember” contact with methane gives geologists a new tool for searching. If the instruments show that gas is preserved in the clay, it means that somewhere nearby there may be large deposits. Essentially, scientists have found a cheap and reliable way to search for oil and natural gas without drilling at random.
In addition, the composition of clay minerals can now be used to reconstruct the history of the ocean. Researchers will be able to understand exactly when powerful methane emissions occurred in the past and how the planet responded to it. This will allow us to build more accurate models of global warming.
Source: Ministry of Education and Science of Russia
Image: Alexey Ruban
