Articles | Volume 23, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-1459-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-1459-2026
Research article
 | 
24 Feb 2026
Research article |  | 24 Feb 2026

Enhanced methane cycling across the Laptev Sea signaled by time-integrated biomarkers of aerobic methane oxidation

Albin Eriksson, Birgit Wild, Wei-Li Hong, Henry Holmstrand, Francisco J. A. Nascimento, Stefano Bonaglia, Denis Kosmach, Igor Semiletov, Natalia Shakhova, and Örjan Gustafsson

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Sea ice variability and links to East Siberian permafrost carbon remobilization during the last glacial-interglacial transition
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EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2414,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2414, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Climate of the Past (CP).
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Cited articles

Apprill, A., Mcnally, S., Parsons, R., and Weber, L.: Minor revision to V4 region SSU rRNA 806R gene primer greatly increases detection of SAR11 bacterioplankton, Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 75, 129–137, https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01753, 2015. 
Baranov, B., Galkin, S., Vedenin, A., Dozorova, K., Gebruk, A., and Flint, M.: Methane seeps on the outer shelf of the Laptev Sea: characteristic features, structural control, and benthic fauna, Geo-Mar Lett, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-020-00655-7, 2020. 
Belin, B. J., Busset, N., Giraud, E., Molinaro, A., Silipo, A., and Newman, Di. K.: Hopanoid lipids: From membranes to plant-bacteria interactions, Nature Reviews Microbiology, https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2017.173, 2018. 
Birgel, D. and Peckmann, J.: Aerobic methanotrophy at ancient marine methane seeps: A synthesis, Org. Geochem., 39, 1659–1667, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2008.01.023, 2008. 
Bischoff, J., Sparkes, R. B., Doğrul Selver, A., Spencer, R. G. M., Gustafsson, Ö., Semiletov, I. P., Dudarev, O. V., Wagner, D., Rivkina, E., van Dongen, B. E., and Talbot, H. M.: Source, transport and fate of soil organic matter inferred from microbial biomarker lipids on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, Biogeosciences, 13, 4899–4914, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-4899-2016, 2016. 
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Thawing subsea permafrost in the East Siberian Arctic Seas releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Using molecular fossils in sediments, we traced aerobic methane oxidation as a proxy of enhanced methane cycling across the Laptev Sea, including in regions once thought low in emissions. This approach captures long-term patterns of methane cycling over years-decades , overcoming limits of short-term seawater measurements and highlights the importance of the Laptev Sea in Arctic methane cycling.
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