Methane in Two Stream Networks: Similar Contributions From Groundwater and Local Sediments While Oxidation Was a Large Sink Controlling Atmospheric Emissions

Streams are important sources of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere but magnitudes and regulation of stream CH4 fluxes remain uncertain. Stream CH4 can come from groundwater and/or produced in anoxic sediments. A fraction can be microbially oxidized to carbon dioxide (CO2) when passing redox gradients in soil, sediment, or water, while the fraction escaping oxidation is emitted to the atmosphere. The relative importance of the CH4 sources (groundwater inputs vs. sediment production) and the fraction oxidized is typically unknown, yet key for the regulation and magnitude of stream emissions. In this study, we followed the transport of CH4 from below‐stream soils to the stream water surface and to the atmosphere using a combination of CH4 concentration and stable carbon isotope gradient measurements, high resolution stream flux and discharge assessments, and inverse mass‐balance modeling. Sampling was done in multiple locations in the stream network of two independent catchments in Sweden to consider spatial variability. We show that the surface water, sub‐surface, and groundwater CH4 concentration, CH4 oxidation, and emission were highly variable in space. Our results indicate that the variability could be related to stream morphology and soil characteristics. Of the total CH4 input into the streams, roughly half of it was estimated to come from groundwater CH4 in both catchments (39% and 57%; the rest from sediment production), and most of the CH4 was oxidized (97%–99%) before emission to the atmosphere. Our results indicate that CH4 oxidation is a major sink for CH4 in the studied streams. Plain Language Summary Streams emit a large amount of the greenhouse gas methane to the atmosphere. Sources of this methane can be groundwater and/or production in stream sediments. A part of the methane can be oxidized by microbes into carbon dioxide and the rest can evade to the atmosphere as methane. The relative magnitudes of the sources, oxidation, and emission are usually unknown but important for understanding the regulation of stream methane emissions. In this study in two stream networks of Sweden, inverse mass‐balance modeling was done using multiple measurements and we show that the sources of methane, its oxidation and emission were highly variable in space. About half of the methane in the streams was contributed by groundwater and the rest was estimated to be produced in the sediments. Most of the methane was oxidized in the streams and only a small fraction