A molecular recorder of methane hydrate destabilization

The magnitude and timing of temporal variation of delta C-13 recorded in be nthic and planktic foraminifera from the Santa Barbara Basin strongly sugge st episodic events of methane hydrate destabilization during the Late Quate rnary [Kennett et al., 2000]. However, this and similar evidence from earli er in the geologic past are indirect and therefore not unambiguous. Here I report a direct geochemical response to elevated levels of methane in the L ate Quaternary Santa Barbara Basin. Molecular paleontological data provide clear-cut evidence for strongly elevated concentrations of methane in botto m waters at times coinciding with diagnostic foraminiferal assemblages and carbon isotopic compositions.