Computing the Methane Cycle Elements in the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Sea of Azov and the World Ocean Based on Empirical Formulae

D. N. Gar’kusha, Yu. A. Fedorov, and N. S. Tambieva

Empirical relationships between methane concentration and the rates of its oxidation and emission in the sediment–water–atmosphere system are computed using the experimental data and the data presented in the literature. For the Sea of Azov and the World Ocean the possibility is demonstrated of using the empirically derived formulae to compute the methane cycle elements in aquatic ecosys- tems. The comparability of methane volumes in the water column and bottom sediments as well as of those oxidized and released from water and sediments computed using these formulae, demonstrates the adequacy of the obtained formulae. It is shown that depending on morphological parameters of reser- voirs of aquatic ecosystems and on their volume and area, the ratio of the amounts of methane that is oxidized and released to the atmosphere, changes as well as the rate of its turnover.