Methane emissions from lake Onego sediments

Abstract

We studied the methane content in Lake Onego bottom sediments and bottom water and revealed a wide variation of its concentrations among different parts of the lake. Methane concentrations were the highest in the pockmarked area of Petrozavodsk Bay, where hydrocarbon gases rise to the lake bed surface from the depth. Methane emissions from Lake Onego sediments were estimated. We show that in addition to the geological and geomorphological characteristics of the basin, the flux rate depends on how the lake sediments are forming under the uneven human pressure and climate oscillations of today.