They estimate that there could be hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon stored in methane reservoirs under the ice sheet.
However, the study warned that further research is needed to determine the long-term impacts of the natural gas hydrates -- essentially methane gas trapped in ice.
The findings indicate that ancient deposits of organic matter may have been converted to methane by microbes under the ice.
There are two schools of thought about the origins of the methane released at the end of the ice age.
But if that is true, then the methane spike at the end of the ice age must have been caused by something else.
It says this methane could be released into the atmosphere as ice retreats, contributing to climate warming.
However, we then also get all sorts of feedback effects: ice melts, albedo changes, methane might be released, the drying of soils might kill forests.
To produce usable gas, methane is separated from from a "cage" of ice by sucking out seawater to lower the surrounding pressure.
Large volumes of methane - a potent greenhouse gas - could be locked beneath the ice-covered regions of Antarctica, according to a new study.
For example, you can also take a block of ice and grind it into tiny particles and use that to absorb methane.
In their Nature paper, the authors comment that their "findings suggest that the Antarctic Ice Sheet may be a neglected but important component of the global methane budget".
Water-ice covers Charon, while Pluto's surface is predominantly nitrogen frost with traces of methane and carbon monoxide ices.
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