BBC News - Antarctic may host methane stores
It says this methane could be released into the atmosphere as ice retreats, contributing to climate warming.
The findings indicate that ancient deposits of organic matter may have been converted to methane by microbes under the ice.
An international team reported the results in Nature journal.
Study leader Jemima Wadham, from Bristol University, said: "This is an immense amount of organic carbon, more than ten times the size of carbon stocks in northern permafrost regions.
"Our laboratory experiments tell us that these sub-ice environments are also biologically active, meaning that this organic carbon is probably being metabolised to carbon dioxide and methane gas by microbes."
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So where does all the methane in the Martian ice caps come from? Especially since the Martian ice caps occasionally completely disappear- which means the methane is released as temperatures rise and the methane evaporates- but methane then reappears in readings of ice caps when they reappear.
Funny how there's always the same stupid dichotomy of explanations between Earth and Mars and indeed between sensible conservative scientific explanations of methane readings and manmade climate change alarmism.
Of course it wasn't that long ago that it was claimed that Mars hadn't had surface water for billions of years, despite the fact we have pictures of it flowing and steaming there now. Very convincing.
Large volumes of methane - a potent greenhouse gas - could be locked beneath the ice-covered regions of Antarctica, according to a new study.
The findings indicate that ancient deposits of organic matter may have been converted to methane by microbes under the ice.
An international team reported the results in Nature journal.
Study leader Jemima Wadham, from Bristol University, said: "This is an immense amount of organic carbon, more than ten times the size of carbon stocks in northern permafrost regions.
"Our laboratory experiments tell us that these sub-ice environments are also biologically active, meaning that this organic carbon is probably being metabolised to carbon dioxide and methane gas by microbes."
***
So where does all the methane in the Martian ice caps come from? Especially since the Martian ice caps occasionally completely disappear- which means the methane is released as temperatures rise and the methane evaporates- but methane then reappears in readings of ice caps when they reappear.
Funny how there's always the same stupid dichotomy of explanations between Earth and Mars and indeed between sensible conservative scientific explanations of methane readings and manmade climate change alarmism.
Of course it wasn't that long ago that it was claimed that Mars hadn't had surface water for billions of years, despite the fact we have pictures of it flowing and steaming there now. Very convincing.
