New methane emission sites are being found off the coast of the Crimean peninsula — there are already hundreds of them

Since 2022, in the last three expeditions, we have discovered more than 600 sites (methane emissions — ed.) off the Crimean coast and about 350 sites near the Caucasus. This is data from the 137th voyage of the research vessel «Professor Vodyanitsky» (with the help of eleven laboratories on board, research is carried out in the Black Sea — ed.)— said Malakhova.

According to her, there are methane gas emissions on the shelf of all Black Sea countries. Every year, scientists from different countries discover such sites on the coasts of Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, and Romania.

Seeps (seeps are a natural release of gases, in this case on the seabed) are found from the water’s edge, from the shallowest depths in the Black Sea to depths of generally 725 meters, – she clarified.

At the same time, the scientist noted that at great depths, where divers cannot reach, special conditions are created under which free gas is in a state associated with water in the form of crystalline lattices, so-called gas hydrates. And this methane “is so well packed in these crystals, and there is so much of it, that some scientists believe that when we learn to extract them, it will be the fuel of the future, but for now there are difficulties in extracting this type of gas.”

It was previously reported that since discovery of methane seeps in the Black Sea in 1989, scientists established the geographic coordinates of over 4,000 sites and showed that at great depths, gas jets completely dissolve in the water column. But from sites located at a depth of less than 250 meters, methane can reach the surface.

REFERENCE: The Black Sea differs in its gas composition from most basins of the World Ocean. Research on methane gas emissions in the Black Sea has been carried out for more than 35 years, but in recent years, scientists have focused special attention on the Black Sea shelf off the coast of Crimea and the Caucasus.

source: RIA Novosti Crimea