Seasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves

Abstract Methane concentration in caves is commonly much lower than the external atmosphere, yet the cave CH4 depletion causal mechanism is contested and dynamic links to external diurnal and seasonal temperature cycles unknown. Here, we report a continuous 3-year record of cave methane and other tr...

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Autores principales:	Chris L. Waring, Stuart I. Hankin, David W. T. Griffith, Michael A. Kertesz, Victoria Kobylski, Neil L. Wilson, Nicholas V. Coleman, Graham Kettlewell, Robert Zlot, Michael Bosse, Graham Bell
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d4a7c518ee644ebf952ee279c8ca6a50
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d4a7c518ee644ebf952ee279c8ca6a502021-12-02T11:52:38ZSeasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves10.1038/s41598-017-07769-62045-2322https://doaj.org/article/d4a7c518ee644ebf952ee279c8ca6a502017-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07769-6https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Methane concentration in caves is commonly much lower than the external atmosphere, yet the cave CH4 depletion causal mechanism is contested and dynamic links to external diurnal and seasonal temperature cycles unknown. Here, we report a continuous 3-year record of cave methane and other trace gases in Jenolan Caves, Australia which shows a seasonal cycle of extreme CH4 depletion, from ambient ~1,775 ppb to near zero during summer and to ~800 ppb in winter. Methanotrophic bacteria, some newly-discovered, rapidly consume methane on cave surfaces and in external karst soils with lifetimes in the cave of a few hours. Extreme bacterial selection due to the absence of alternate carbon sources for growth in the cave environment has resulted in an extremely high proportion 2–12% of methanotrophs in the total bacteria present. Unexpected seasonal bias in our cave CH4 depletion record is explained by a three-step process involving methanotrophy in aerobic karst soil above the cave, summer transport of soil-gas into the cave through epikarst, followed by further cave CH4 depletion. Disentangling cause and effect of cave gas variations by tracing sources and sinks has identified seasonal speleothem growth bias, with implied palaeo-climate record bias.Chris L. WaringStuart I. HankinDavid W. T. GriffithMichael A. KerteszVictoria KobylskiNeil L. WilsonNicholas V. ColemanGraham KettlewellRobert ZlotMichael BosseGraham BellNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Chris L. Waring Stuart I. Hankin David W. T. Griffith Michael A. Kertesz Victoria Kobylski Neil L. Wilson Nicholas V. Coleman Graham Kettlewell Robert Zlot Michael Bosse Graham Bell Seasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves
description	Abstract Methane concentration in caves is commonly much lower than the external atmosphere, yet the cave CH4 depletion causal mechanism is contested and dynamic links to external diurnal and seasonal temperature cycles unknown. Here, we report a continuous 3-year record of cave methane and other trace gases in Jenolan Caves, Australia which shows a seasonal cycle of extreme CH4 depletion, from ambient ~1,775 ppb to near zero during summer and to ~800 ppb in winter. Methanotrophic bacteria, some newly-discovered, rapidly consume methane on cave surfaces and in external karst soils with lifetimes in the cave of a few hours. Extreme bacterial selection due to the absence of alternate carbon sources for growth in the cave environment has resulted in an extremely high proportion 2–12% of methanotrophs in the total bacteria present. Unexpected seasonal bias in our cave CH4 depletion record is explained by a three-step process involving methanotrophy in aerobic karst soil above the cave, summer transport of soil-gas into the cave through epikarst, followed by further cave CH4 depletion. Disentangling cause and effect of cave gas variations by tracing sources and sinks has identified seasonal speleothem growth bias, with implied palaeo-climate record bias.
format	article
author	Chris L. Waring Stuart I. Hankin David W. T. Griffith Michael A. Kertesz Victoria Kobylski Neil L. Wilson Nicholas V. Coleman Graham Kettlewell Robert Zlot Michael Bosse Graham Bell
author_facet	Chris L. Waring Stuart I. Hankin David W. T. Griffith Michael A. Kertesz Victoria Kobylski Neil L. Wilson Nicholas V. Coleman Graham Kettlewell Robert Zlot Michael Bosse Graham Bell
author_sort	Chris L. Waring
title	Seasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves
title_short	Seasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves
title_full	Seasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves
title_fullStr	Seasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves
title_full_unstemmed	Seasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves
title_sort	seasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/d4a7c518ee644ebf952ee279c8ca6a50
work_keys_str_mv	AT chrislwaring seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT stuartihankin seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT davidwtgriffith seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT michaelakertesz seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT victoriakobylski seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT neillwilson seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT nicholasvcoleman seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT grahamkettlewell seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT robertzlot seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT michaelbosse seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves AT grahambell seasonaltotalmethanedepletioninlimestonecaves
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Seasonal total methane depletion in limestone caves

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