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Process showing how methane is derived from photosynthetic bacteria.

Process showing how methane is derived from photosynthetic bacteria.
Process showing how methane is derived from photosynthetic bacteria.
Process showing how methane is derived from photosynthetic bacteria.
Process showing how methane is derived from photosynthetic bacteria.
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290254
Taylor, Eric S.
Process showing how methane is derived from photosynthetic bacteria.
Illustration
04/18/2006
16G1000-Methane.jpg
Image Of the Day caption:
An enduring ocean mystery may finally be solved. For decades, scientists have known that the oceans surface waters are full of methane gas. But they didn't know where it came from, because most of the microbes that make methane cant survive in oxygen-rich surface waters. New research led by WHOI geochemist Dan Repeta may have found the answer. The study showed that photosynthetic bacteria in the upper ocean make chains of sugars called polysaccharides, while different bacteria snip apart those chains, releasing methane and other gases as byproducts. These findings reveal a previously-unknown microbial source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Caption from WHOI news release:
The new study determined that much of the oceans dissolved organic matter is made up of novel polysaccharideslong chains of sugar molecules created by photosynthetic bacteria in the upper ocean. Bacteria begin to slowly break these polysaccharides, tearing out pairs of carbon and phosphorus atoms from their molecular structure. In the process, the microbes create methane, ethylene, and propylene gasses as byproducts. Most of the methane escapes back into the atmosphere. - See more at: http://www.whoi.edu/news-release/mysterious-methane-in-the-ocean#sthash.mackLBVj.dpuf
Illustration by Eric S. Taylor, WHOI Graphic Services
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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