Hydrocasting observation of conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD)

Warming the Arctic surface ocean due to influx of warm Pacific water not only leads to the declining of the sea ice extent but also triggers melting gas hydrate stored in the Arctic Sea floor of the continental shelf areas. Methane (CH4) is the most abundant hydrocarbon in the atmosphere, where it plays a much more effective role as the greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2). To understand the behavior of gas hydrate in the sediment and to estimate the CH4 fluxes from the sediment through the water column to the atmosphere, we obtained data on water temperature, salinity, density and fluorescence in the water column.