Implications of present-day abiogenic methane fluxes for the early Archean atmosphere

Geophysical Research Letters

Volumn 34, Issue 15, 2007, Pages

  Emmanuel, Simon ^a   Ague, Jay J ^a  

^a YALE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE; CARBON DIOXIDE; GEOTHERMAL ENERGY; GREENHOUSE GASES; METHANE; PARTICULATE EMISSIONS;

ABIOGENIC METHANE FLUXES; GEOTHERMAL SOURCES; GREENHOUSE WARMING; SURFACE TEMPERATURES;

GLOBAL WARMING;

ARCHEAN; CARBON DIOXIDE; GLOBAL WARMING; GREENHOUSE EFFECT; METHANE; PALEOATMOSPHERE; PALEOCLIMATE; PALEOTEMPERATURE;

EID: 34948876915     PISSN: 00948276     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1029/2007GL030532     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. 2 during serpentinization of olivine at 300°C and 500 bar, Geology, 24, 351-354.
2. Berner, R. A. (1990), Atmospheric carbon dioxide over Phanerozoic time, Science, 259, 1382-1386.
3. Brazelton, W. J., M. O. Schrenk, D. S. Kelley, and J. A. Baross (2006), Methane- and sulfur-metabolizing microbial communities dominate the Lost City hydrothermal field ecosystem, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 72, 6257-6270.
4. Cadle, R. D. (1980), A comparison of volcanic with other fluxes of atmospheric trace gas constituents, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 18, 746-752.
5. Carlson, R. L. (2001), The abundance of ultramafic rocks in Atlantic Ocean crust, Geophys. J. Int., 144, 37-44.
6. Etiope, G., and R. W. Klusman (2002), Geologic emissions of methane to the atmosphere, Chemosphere, 49, 777-789.
7. Evans, B. W. (2004), The serpentinite multisystem revisited: Chrysotile is metastable, Int. Geol. Rev., 46, 479-506.
8. Giggenbach, W. F., and S. Matsuo (1991), Evaluation of results from Second and Third IAVCEI Field Workshops on Volcanic Gases, Mt. Usu, Japan, and White Island, New Zealand, Appl. Geochem., 6, 125-141.
9. Holland, H. D. (1984), The Chemical Evolution of the Atmosphere and Oceans, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, N. J.
10. Horita, J., and M. E. Berndt (1999), Abiogenic methane formation and isotopic fractionation under hydrothermal conditions, Science, 285, 1055-1057.
11. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001), Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, edited by J. T. Houghton et al., Cambridge Univ. Press, New York.
12. Kasting, J. F. (2005), Methane and climate during the Precambrian era, Precambrian Res., 137, 119-129.
13. Kasting, J. F., and D. Catling (2003), Evolution of a habitable planet, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys., 41, 429-463.
14. Kasting, J. F., and M. T. Howard (2006), Atmospheric composition and climate on the early Earth, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Ser. B, 361, 1733-1741.
15. Kasting, J. F., M. T. Howard, K. Wallmann, J. Veizer, G. Shields, and J. Jaffres (2006), Paleoclimates, ocean depth, and the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 252, 82-93.
16. Kelley, D. S., J. A. Karson, D. K. Blackman, and G. L. Fruh-Green (2001), An off-axis hydrothermal vent field near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 30 degrees N, Nature, 412, 145-149.
17. Kharecha, P., J. Kasting, and J. Siefert (2005), A coupled atmosphere-ecosystem model of the early Archean Earth, Geobiology, 3, 53-76, doi:10.1111/j.1472-4669.2005.00049.x.
18. 4 on early Earth surface temperatures, J. Geophys. Res., 92, 2991-2998.
19. Knauth, P. L., and D. R. Lowe (2003), High Archean climatic temperature inferred from oxygen isotope geochemistry of cherts in the 3.5 Ga Swaziland Supergroup, South Africa, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 115, 566-580.
20. Kress, M. E., and C. P. McKay (2004), Formation of methane in comet impacts: Implications for Earth, Mars, and Titan, Icarus, 168, 475-483.
21. Kvenvolden, K. A., and B. W. Rogers (2005), Gaia's breath: Global methane exhalations, Mar. Pet. Geol., 22, 579-590.
22. Lacroix, A. V. (1993), Unaccounted-for sources of fossil and isotopically-enriched methane and their contribution to the emissions inventory: A review and synthesis, Chemosphere, 26, 507-557.
23. Lowe, D. R. (1994), Early environments: Constraints and opportunities for early evolution, in Early Life on Earth, pp. 24-35, Columbia Univ. Press, New York.
24. 2 with an overriding tectonic control, Geology, 32, 493-496.
25. Matthews, C. N. (1995), Hydrogen cyanide polymers: From laboratory to space, Planet. Space Sci., 43, 1365-1370.
26. Morner, N., and G. Etiope (2002), Carbon degassing from the lithosphere, Global Planet. Change, 33, 185-203.
27. 2-rich atmosphere before ∼1.8 billion years, ago, Nature, 429, 395-399.
28. Parsons, B. (1982), Causes and consequences of the relation between area and age of the ocean floor, J. Geophys. Res., 87, 289-302.
29. 4 in the atmosphere of early Earth, J. Geophys. Res., 11, 11,981-11,990.
30. Ryan, S., E. J. Dlugokencky, P. P. Tans, and M. E. Trudeau (2006), Mauna Loa volcano is not a methane source: Implications for Mars, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L12301, doi:10.1029/20060L026223.
31. Rye, R., P. H. Kuo, and H. D. Holland (1995), Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations before 2.2 billion years ago, Nature, 378, 603-605.
32. Sinha, M. C., and R. L. Evans (2004), Geophysical constraints upon the thermal regime of the ocean crust, in Mid-Ocean Ridges: Hydrothermal Interactions Between the Lithosphere and Oceans, Geophys. Monogr. Ser., vol. 148, edited by C. R. German, J. Lin, and L. M. Parson, pp. 425-445, AGU, Washington, D. C.
33. Sleep, N. H., and A. M. Hessler (2006), Weathering of quartz as an Archean climatic indicator, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 241, 594-602.
34. Sorokhtin, O. G., A. Y. Lein, and I. E. Balanyuk (2001), Thermodynamics of oceanic hydrothermal systems and abiogenic methane generation, Oceanology, 41, 861-872.
35. Von Damm, K. L. (1995), Controls on the chemistry and temporal variability of seafloor hydrothermal fluids, in Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems: Physical, Chemical, Biological, and Geological Implications, Geophys. Monogr. Ser., vol. 91, edited by S. E. Humphris et al., pp. 222-247, AGU, Washington, D. C.
36. Ward, B. B., K. A. Kilpatrick, P. C. Novelli, and M. I. Scranton (1987), Methane oxidation and methane fluxes in the ocean surface layer and deep anoxic waters, Nature, 327, 226-229.
37. Welhan, J. A. (1988), Origins of methane in hydrothermal systems, 71, 183-198.
38. Welhan, J. A., and H. Craig (1979), Methane and hydrogen in East Pacific Rise hydrothermal fluids, Geophys. Res. Lett., 6, 829-831.
39. Young, G. M. (1991), The geologic record of glaciation: Relevance to the climatic history of Earth, Geosci. Can., 18, 100-108.