Bacteria devoured methane from gulf oil spill, study shows (LA Times)

Bacteria devoured methane from gulf oil spill, study shows

The finding surprises scientists, who say the gas was consumed much more quickly than expected.

By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times
January 6, 2011

Scientists investigating the fate of the oil and natural gas that spewed into the Gulf of Mexico during last year's BP spill established quickly that bacteria had consumed much of the propane and ethane that leaked from the well.

Now they have found that bacteria also made short order of the most abundant hydrocarbon released during the spill — methane — probably consuming most of the 200,000 tons the well ejected within 120 days of the onset of the leak from the ruptured well, according to research published Thursday in the journal Science.

The discovery was a surprise, said David Valentine, a professor of microbial geochemistry at UC Santa Barbara and a member of the research team.

"We expected it to stick around a year or more," he said. "But by September, the methane had been reduced to background levels."

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-sci-gulf-bacteria-20110105,0,3014497.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews+%28L.A.+Times+-+Top+News%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

in limiting hydrocarbons from the well failure - methane primarily. Another piece of the picture...

:hi:

Now that we know, our governments aren't going to do a thing to stop climate change

...hovering around freezing. 100? 1000 fold difference in metabolic rates?

:evilgrin:

Splice in that antarctic bacteria into some benign bacteria that eats methane.

Of course, I could see them rising up in ten years and taking over

Chronically taking antibiotics will wreck your health.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070510151916.htm

I recall having a conversation with my old geology professor about developing a anti-bacterial treatment that woulds extend the service life of pavement. I guess I'm not surprised.

that exist in the oil-water interphase excrete acids. So it isn't a free lunch.

ya beat me to it

the methane clathrate/hydrate/whatever/ice that is thawing and rising from the ocean depths due to global warming? Could the lowly bacteria save our bacon from catastrophic methane releases??

But I wonder if down the line these very bacteria will be a problem.

who knows what will happen as evidenced by these bacteria.

A. It is eaten by bacteria and disappears.
B. Being lighter than water or air, it is released into the atmosphere adding to the existing greenhouse gases becoming part of what is otherwise termed, "background levels".
C. I goes up my nose and is recycled.

Not having read the article, I wonder if the possibility that the methane, once released, could have simply bubbled to the surface and into the atmosphere?

Before I believe it.