Methane hydrates are widely spread in the perma frost regions and bottom sediment rocks of the ocean. The total reserves of carbon in the form of hydrates are estimated at 10 4 Gt C [1], which is one order of magni tude greater than its content in the atmosphere The temperature increase during global warming facilitates destabilization and dissociation of aggre gates of subaquatic hydrates and emissions of poten tially large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Such emissions can result in significant global and regional climatic consequences with accelerated dis sociation of hydrates. Dissociation of methane hydrates could have been the cause of the rapid cli matic changes in the past The stability of hydrates in the bottom sediments of inland reservoirs depends on temperature and pres sure. Hydrostatic pressure at the bottom in the loca tions of methane hydrates exceeds the pressure needed for the stability of hydrates at the temperature of the bottom water. Hydrates are usually not formed over the bottom owing to the insufficient concentration of methane. As the depth below the bottom increases, hydrostatic pressure and temperature increase linearly (in the equilibrium conditions), while the pressure needed for the stability of methane hydrates exponen tially depends on temperature. Owing to this fact, the lower boundary of the stability zone exists. An increase in the bottom water temperature leads to a change in the temperature profile in the bottom sediments and to the corresponding displacement of the stability zone boundaries. The bottom water temperature in Lake Baikal is currently approximately 3.5°C at depths exceeding 200 m We carried out numerical experiments using the method for calculation of methane reserves in the bot tom deposits of gas hydrates similarly to [10] to esti mate the time intervals needed for the dissociation of hydrates. We specified the temperature gradient that corresponds to the equilibrium state at the geothermal flux equal to 0.09 W/m 2 characteristic of the deep water part of Lake Baikal as the initial condition for the model of bottom sediment
