title: A persistent oxygen anomaly reveals the fate of spilled methane in the deep Gulf of Mexico.
abstract: Methane was the most abundant hydrocarbon released during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Beyond relevancy to this anthropogenic event, this methane release simulates a rapid and relatively short-term natural release from hydrates into deep water. Based on methane and oxygen distributions measured at 207 stations throughout the affected region, we find that within ~120 days from the onset of release ~3.0 × 10(10) to 3.9 × 10(10) moles of oxygen were respired, primarily by methanotrophs, and left behind a residual microbial community containing methanotrophic bacteria. We suggest that a vigorous deepwater bacterial bloom respired nearly all the released methane within this time, and that by analogy, large-scale releases of methane from hydrate in the deep ocean are likely to be met by a similarly rapid methanotrophic response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3146, USA. jkessler@ocean.tamu.edu
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Valentine
authors.forename: Molly C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Redmond
authors.forename: Mengran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Eric W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Stephanie D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Mendes
authors.forename: Erik W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Quiroz
authors.forename: Christie J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.forename: Stephani S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shusta
authors.forename: Lindsay M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Werra
authors.forename: Shari A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Yvon-Lewis
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010578:Petroleum; D010802:Phylogeny; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010578:Petroleum; D008697:Methane; D010100:Oxygen