Large methane emission during ice-melt in spring from thermokarst lakes and ponds in the interior Tibetan Plateau

The magnitudes of annual CO2 and CH4 emissions from thermokarst lakes and ponds are uncertain due to scarce measurements on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and limited data on emissions during ice-melt. To evaluate the importance of CO2 and CH4 emissions during late winter and spring among the whole year, surface water CO2 and CH4 concentrations were measured with the headspace method in ten thermokarst lakes and ponds in 2020–2021 on the TP. The concentrations of CH4 and CO2 under ice in winter (CH4, 1.05–127.16 μmol/L, CO2, 13.24–95.57 μmol/L) were 3–4 orders of magnitude and several times higher than those in summer (CH4, 0.02–2.34 μmol/L, CO2, 7.26–49.18 μmol/L), respectively. The CH4 concentrations and fluxes during ice-melt increased with as the depth of the thermokarst lakes and ponds increased. However, the variation in CO2 concentration was not significant in depth. Snowfall events played an important role in influencing gas exchange during ice-melt. In the ten lakes researched, 42.2% and 19.2% of the annual CH4 and CO2 fluxes occurred during ice-melt, respectively. Our results indicated that CH4 and CO2 accumulation in winter should be considered when evaluating annual carbon budgets in thermokarst lakes and ponds on the TP and similarly high fluxes during ice-melt might occur in other thermokarst lakes and ponds.