SUBMARINE ACCUMULATIONS OF METHANE HYDRATES IN ADJACENCES OF SEYMOUR
ISLAND (ISLA MARAMBIO), ANTARCTICA AND ITS PROBABLE ENVIRONMENTAL
INCIDENT
Abstract
Abstract: The presence of aliphatic hydrocarbons in sediments at the
bottom of the platform and the continental margin of the northeastern
tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and its natural escapes, leads us to
infer about the likely effects they may have on the Antarctic
environment, particularly on changes off average in surface temperatures
and seawater. Methane leaks recorded in shallow waters of the region are
compatible with the destabilization of gas hydrates in the marine
substrate and with changes in average surface temperatures and seawater,
suggesting a probable environmental impact such as As a consequence of
this process, based on the hypothesis of the “clathrate rifle”,
the scientific theory of Gerry Dickens and James Kennet, which argues
that the rise in sea temperature can lead to a sudden release of methane
from the clathrate deposits located in the ocean bottoms, as happened in
the Eocene.