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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-3607</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Biogeochemistry of methane in Arctic waters: A multiyear synthesis (2014&amp;ndash;2022) from the North Atlantic-Arctic sector and Barents Sea</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Sert</surname>
<given-names>Muhammed Fatih</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2442-0929</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Dølven</surname>
<given-names>Knut Ola</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5315-4834</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Bünz</surname>
<given-names>Stefan</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Niemann</surname>
<given-names>Helge</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3468-8304</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Panieri</surname>
<given-names>Giuliana</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9411-1729</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Patton</surname>
<given-names>Henry</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9670-611X</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Plaza-Faverola</surname>
<given-names>Andreia</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7282-4277</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Rasmussen</surname>
<given-names>Tine L.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Stetzler</surname>
<given-names>Marie</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Winsborrow</surname>
<given-names>Monica</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Ferré</surname>
<given-names>Bénédicte</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1646-9287</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Department of Geosciences, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>NIOZ Royal Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, and Utrecht University, Texel,  the Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>CNR-ISP Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Polari, Venice, Italy</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>30</day>
<month>06</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>35</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Muhammed Fatih Sert et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3607/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3607/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3607/egusphere-2026-3607.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3607/egusphere-2026-3607.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Methane seeping from numerous point sources at the seabed represents a biogeochemically constrained carbon source in the water column of the Arctic Ocean. Here, we compile and synthesise water-column data from 28 research cruises conducted between 2014 and 2022 to evaluate the spatial distribution and variability of methane across Arctic seep systems and to assess whether methane enrichment produces detectable changes in water-column biogeochemistry. Our synthesis shows that methane concentrations span five orders of magnitude, ranging from non-detectable levels (&amp;lt;0.52 nM) to 10&lt;sup&gt;5 &lt;/sup&gt;nM. Despite this distinct variability, continuous seeping of methane does not measurably alter bulk nutrient regimes, but it influences organic matter cycling through microbial methane oxidation (MOx). In contrast, nutrient and carbon biogeochemistry appear closely associated with seasonal patterns in primary production, showing typical vertical profiles, even in regions of maximum methane flux. This reflects the relatively low abundance of methane compared to other substrates, as nutrients and dissolved organic carbon concentrations remain one to two orders of magnitude higher even at peak methane levels. Consequently, methane-derived carbon constitutes only a minor fraction of total biogeochemical pools, constraining its effect on nutrient dynamics. However, methane exerts a cumulative influence by altering microbial processes and carbon transformation pathways, even in the absence of detectable changes in bulk nutrient concentrations.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="35"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Norges Forskningsråd</funding-source>
<award-id>223259</award-id>
<award-id>320100</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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<back>
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