Sabtu, 01 September 2012

Why Oxygen-Rich Oceanic Waters Produce Methane


An unusual class of potential antibiotic agents, called phosphonates, has been found to be responsible for the production of methane in oxygen-rich waters. The weird chemistry they are involved in results in the production of 4 percent of the world's methane, yearly.

In a paper published in the latest issue of the top journal Science, the team explains that it was analyzing Nitrosopumilus maritimus, one of the most abundant microbes on Earth, and an organism known to produce phosphonates.

“We know that about 20 percent of the greenhouse effect comes from methane and 4 percent of that comes from this previously unexplained source," he said. "You have to know where the methane comes from and where it goes to understand what will happen when the system changes,” the group says.

The new investigation was carried out by experts at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, with funds provided by the US National Institute of Health, e! Science News reports.

Via: Why Oxygen-Rich Oceanic Waters Produce Methane

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