Comparative analysis of gas exchange processes for methane on the water–atmosphere interface at the water area of marginal seas. V.F. MISHUKOV, G.I. MISHUKOVA, R.B. SHAKIROV

Abstract

Comparative analysis of gas exchange processes for methane on the water–atmosphere interface at the water area of marginal seas. V.F. MISHUKOV, G.I. MISHUKOVA, R.B. SHAKIROV (V.I. Il`ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, FEB RAS, Vladivostok).

The article presents the results of the research of heat-mass exchange processes on the water–atmosphere interface of the marginal seas. The experimental data were processed and the analysis of the dynamic processes of gas exchange in the waters of the Seas of Okhotsk, Japan and South China Sea was carried out. The analysis revealed the unique features of the spatial distribution of methane fluxes and methane supersaturation in the pelagic waters for the autumn season. Paired correlation coefficients revealed the predominance of mass transfer processes in the open sea; these processes are not caused by molecular diffusion, they result from mixing processes, influenced by wind speeds. At the profiles through the deep-water areas of the Kuril Basin of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Central Basin of the Sea of Japan, the methane flux with an average value of 8 ± 4 mol/(km2 ∙ day) and 5 ± 3 mol/(km2 ∙ day) was influenced by wave and bubble collapse
during increased wind speeds in the autumn. Along the central profile of the South China Sea, the average flux value was 3 ± 1 mol/(km2 ∙ day) which was two times lower than for the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan.