Articles | Volume 22, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-809-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-809-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
15 Feb 2025
Research article |
| 15 Feb 2025
| 15 Feb 2025
Interferences caused by the biogeochemical methane cycle in peats during the assessment of abandoned oil wells
Sebastian F. A. Jordan
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hanover, Germany
Stefan Schloemer
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hanover, Germany
Martin Krüger
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hanover, Germany
Tanja Heffner
Institute for Microbiology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Herrenhäuser Str. 2, 30419 Hanover, Germany
Marcus A. Horn
Institute for Microbiology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Herrenhäuser Str. 2, 30419 Hanover, Germany
Martin Blumenberg
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hanover, Germany
Related authors
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Gabrielle E. Kleber, Leonard Magerl, Alexandra V. Turchyn, Stefan Schloemer, Mark Trimmer, Yizhu Zhu, and Andrew Hodson
Biogeosciences, 22, 659–674, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-659-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-659-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our research on Svalbard shows that glacier melt rivers can transport large amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By studying a glacier over one summer, we found that its river was highly concentrated in methane, suggesting that rivers could provide a significant source of methane emissions as the Arctic warms and glaciers melt. This is the first time such emissions have been measured on Svalbard, indicating a wider environmental concern as such processes are occurring across the Arctic.
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Short summary
Using a multilayer approach, we studied the methane flux, soil gas composition, and isotopic signatures of soil methane and carbon dioxide at eight cut and buried abandoned oil wells in a peat-rich area of northern Germany. The detected methane emissions were of biogenic, peat origin and were not associated with the abandoned wells. Additional microbial analysis and methane oxidation rate measurements demonstrated a high methane emission mitigation potential in the studied peat soils.
Using a multilayer approach, we studied the methane flux, soil gas composition, and isotopic...
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