Start Date
18-4-2022 3:45 PM
End Date
18-4-2022 5:00 PM
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Methane hydrate dissociation has long been considered as a mechanism for global carbon cycle perturbations, climate change and even mass extinctions in Earth’s history. However, direct evidence of hydrate destabilization and methane release that coincides with such events is scarce. We use diagnostic lipid biomarkers directly linked to methanotrophic microorganisms to track the dissociation of gas hydrates in Earth’s Cenozoic history. We show biomarker and compound-specific isotope evidence of methane release and oxidation at several climate change events, suggesting that aerobic oxidation of methane in seawater which consumes oxygen and acidifies the ocean is a key process that drives climate and biogeochemistry changes.
Biography
Yige Zhang received his BS from Nanjing University (2007) and PhD from Yale University (2014). Following a postdoc training at Harvard University, he joined the faculty at Texas A&M University Department of Oceanography in 2016. His research focused on climate and oceanographic changes during the Cenozoic era. At TAMU, he teaches on Oceanography, Marine Geology and Paleoclimate, and runs an organic geochemistry lab.
Additional Links
ORCID
Global Climate Change Driven by Marine Methane Hydrate Dissociation: Reality or Fiction?
Methane hydrate dissociation has long been considered as a mechanism for global carbon cycle perturbations, climate change and even mass extinctions in Earth’s history. However, direct evidence of hydrate destabilization and methane release that coincides with such events is scarce. We use diagnostic lipid biomarkers directly linked to methanotrophic microorganisms to track the dissociation of gas hydrates in Earth’s Cenozoic history. We show biomarker and compound-specific isotope evidence of methane release and oxidation at several climate change events, suggesting that aerobic oxidation of methane in seawater which consumes oxygen and acidifies the ocean is a key process that drives climate and biogeochemistry changes.