ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Ocean Observation
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1633033
Tidal Influences and Temporal Dynamics of Methane Gas Emissions at the Formosa Ridge: Insights from the In-situ Observations
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Qingdao, China
- 2Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
In situ long-term monitoring shows that gas emissions from cold seeps at the Formosa Ridge (Site F) southwest of Taiwan are highly temporally variable. The data comes from our self-developed long-term ocean observation platform. The platform integrates acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP), conductivity-temperature-depth sensors, current meters, etc. This makes it possible to correlate the data and analyze the triggering mechanisms and criteria for regulating gas emission activities. Our findings indicate a clear correlation of gas emission with bottom pressure changes controlled by tides, consistent with the promotion or inhibition of hydraulic fracturing by hydrostatic pressure changes in the water column. Based on these results, we propose a model for the seep's fluid system at the seep, fueled by a constant subsurface methane flux and a frequent tidally controlled discharge of gas bubbles into the ocean. This model may be applicable to other gas emission sites across the world's oceans.
Keywords: methane emissions, cold seeps, Tidal modulation, Gas Hydrates, In-situobservation
Received: 22 May 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Zhang, Luan, Du, Li, Xi and Lian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xin Zhang, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Qingdao, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.