Supervolcanic eruptions induced abrupt global cooling (roughly at a rate of ~1ºC/year lasting for years to decades), such as the prehistoric Yellowstone eruption released, by some estimates, SO2 about 100 times higher than the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption. An abrupt global cooling of several ºC, even if only lasting a few years, would present immediate and drastic stress on biodiversity and food production - posing a global catastrophic risk to human society. Using a simple climate model, this paper discusses the possibility of counteracting supervolcanic cooling with the intentional release of greenhouse gases. Although well-known longer-lived compounds such as CO2 and CH₄ are found to be unsuitable for this purpose, select fluorinated gases (F-gases), either individually or in combinations, may be released at gigaton scale to offset most of the supervolcanic cooling. We identify candidate F-gases (viz. C4F6 and CH3F) and derive radiative and chemical properties of ‘ideal’ compounds matching specific cooling events. Geophysical constraints on manufacturing and stockpiling due to mineral availability are considered alongside technical and economic implications based on present-day market assumptions. The consequences of F-gas release in perturbing atmospheric chemistry are discussed in the context of those due to the supervolcanic eruption itself. The conceptual analysis here suggests the possibility of mitigating certain global catastrophic risks via intentional intervention.

The transport of methane from deep sediments towards the seafloor is widespread in ocean margins and has important biogeochemical implications for the deep ocean [1]. A significant portion (>80%) of methane entering the shallow sediments from below at present is oxidized by microbially-driven anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), which mainly involves a microbial consortium of anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) and sulfate-reducing bacteria. Isoprenoid Glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) derived from core lipid membranes of ANMEs are often well preserved in sediment records. Methane Index (MI) is an organic geochemical proxy for methane seepage intensity which weighs in the relative proportion of GDGTs (GDGT-1,-2, and -3) preferentially synthesized by ANMEs with that of non-methane-related biomarker contribution from planktonic and benthic sources (Crenarchaeols) [2]. This study analyzed the GDGT composition of sedimentary core lipids from IODP Site 1230 (Peru Margin) using two silica columns and a high-resolution and accurate mass Orbitrap Fusion Mass Spectrometer. Our results report novel GDGT isomers with concentration peaking at the Sulfate-Methane Transition Zones (SMTZ) with the highest AOM activity around 8 mbsf. Further, these isomers were almost absent above and below the SMTZ. Our observations suggest that these characteristic isomers of GDGT compounds preserved at the SMTZ depth are sourced from ANMEs. Identification of these novel isomers has important implications in refining the MI and additional GDGT based palaeoceanographic proxies like TEX86. 1. Akam et al. (2020), Frontiers in Marine Science 7, 206. 2. Y. G. Zhang et al. (2011), Earth and Planetary Science Letters 307, 525-534.