409: Marine Methane Mostly Munched

This episode: Microbes in low-oxygen zones in the ocean consume
significant amounts of methane anaerobically!


Download Episode (5.2 MB, 7.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Mojiang henipavirus

News item

Takeaways
Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Fortunately there's not as much of it in the atmosphere, but even
smaller amounts can have significant effects on the
climate.

One source of methane is low-oxygen zones in the ocean, where
certain kinds of archaea make methane as part of their energy
metabolism. This study found that other anaerobic microbes in the
same areas consume much of this methane, preventing it from
reaching the atmosphere.

Journal Paper:
Thamdrup B, Steinsdóttir HGR, Bertagnolli AD, Padilla CC, Patin
NV, Garcia‐Robledo E, Bristow LA, Stewart FJ. 2019. Anaerobic
methane oxidation is an important sink for methane in the ocean’s
largest oxygen minimum zone. Limnol Oceanogr 64:2569–2585.


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