G061012 Air-lake exchange of Methane in the Alaskan Arctic Zone

Abstract

This research focused on the methane exchange between lakes and the atmosphere in the Alaskan Arctic Zone. Water samples collected from 29 lakes during summer in 2008 and 2012, dissolved methane concentrations (DM) in the samples were measured. The relationships between DM and lake area were similar to those for Swedish lakes. The methane flux in Alaskan Arctic Zone was 20.3 Gg CH_4 yr^<-1>. Mean methane flux density per lake area (m^2) was 0.799 g CH_4 m^<-2> yr^<-1>. This is about the same level as Swedish and Finnish lakes in no permafrost region. These results suggest that there are no apparent effects of thawing permafrost on DM and on methane flux in the Alaskan Arctic Zone.