4 ms·
I wonder if there is potential for enough methane hydrate turning gaseous that it drives a top to bottom current, bringing warm surface water to greater depths
by tda 6y ago
I wonder if there is potential for enough methane hydrate turning gaseous that it drives a top to bottom current, bringing warm surface water to greater depths and thus creating a runaway effect where the ocean would seem to be boiling violently from all the methane being released. I had a nightmare about this the other day after seeing the tundra pits, no idea if this is remotely feasible
- jacobush 6y agoThat is nightmare fuel. If they made a movie about this, it wouldn't even be enjoyable to watch because it would be too sad and scary. Like The Day After Tomorrow but without the comforting thought reminding you that couldn't actually happen.
- zaarn 6y agoI think such a runaway effect might be more likely than people think. Such places could also still be deceptively quiet on the surface if it's only exchanging water-dissolved methane. It could turn boiling fast and sink ships due to lack of surface tension and rapid decrease in average water density. The Swarm by Schätzing depicted a scenario like this, concluding in the runaway being fast enough to eventually cause the clathrate to detonate, causing a large scale tsunami in the north sea of Europe.