Understanding the methane cycle in heavily populated semi-closed Bays: a case study of Tokyo Bay and the Baltic Sea

Abstract

Methane is an important greenhouse gas, and global methane emission has been estimated separately from the perspective of anthropogenic and natural factors. However, in heavily populated semi-closed bays, methane emissions may be governed by both or even significantly amplified by human activities. One of the main factors mitigating methane emission from marine sediments to seawater and the atmosphere is the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). The sulfate-rich zone acts as a barrier to methane release from the subseafloor because sulfate-dependent AOM removes sulfate and methane dissolved in interstitial water in a 1:1 molar ratio. Due to significant riverine inputs of freshwater and restricted water exchange, the seawater in some of the semi-closed bays is potentially fresher and has lower sulfate concentration, leading to a less effective AOM barrier for methane. Furthermore, the influx of nutrient-rich wastewater to densely populated semi-enclosed bays frequently leads to severe eutrophication, greatly enhancing biological productivity, anoxia, and the accumulation of organic-rich sediments in these systems. The objective of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how the methane cycle is changed by anthropogenic activities in two case studies, with geochemical datasets collected from Tokyo Bay and the Baltic Sea, both known as heavily populated semi-closed bays. We conducted sediment coring at the entrance of Tokyo Bay and offshore Stockholm in the Baltic Sea. Two cores (2.5 m in length) from Tokyo Bay and six cores (4 to 6 m in length) from the Baltic Sea were recovered, respectively. Organic matter in the surface of 1 m of sediment, which may have been strongly influenced by recent anthropogenic activities, showed 1.5 to 2% and 1.5 to 3.6% of total organic carbon (TOC) in Tokyo Bay and the Baltic Sea, respectively. These results indicate the Baltic Sea has a higher potential to generate more methane than the Tokyo Bay. The sulfate concentration at the seafloor was 27 mM in Tokyo Bay and 4 mM in the Baltic Sea and decreased with depth due to the AOM reaction reaching 0 mM at 2.5 mbsf in both bays. The thickness of the sulfate reduction zone was the same in both bays, even though they have a large difference in sulfate concentration in the bottom seawater. The iodine concentration, which has been used as a tracer for methane due to its close association with organic matter, increased with depth up to 74 µM at 2.5 mbsf in Tokyo Bay and 63 µM at 4.5 mbsf in the Baltic Sea. The iodine flux in Tokyo Bay was two times higher than in the Baltic Sea, indicating the possibility of strong methane flux from deeper sediments, which may not directly derive from Anthropocene organic-rich sediment. We will discuss and compare the details of the geochemical datasets in both Bays in the presentation.