Comment on “A Persistent Oxygen Anomaly Reveals the Fate of Spilled Methane in the Deep Gulf of Mexico”

Abstract

Kessler et al . (Reports, 21 January 2011, p. 312) reported that methane released from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout, approximately 40% of the total hydrocarbon discharge, was consumed quantitatively by methanotrophic bacteria in Gulf of Mexico deep waters over a 4-month period. We find the evidence explicitly linking observed oxygen anomalies to methane consumption ambiguous and extension of these observations to hydrate-derived methane climate forcing premature.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
May 27, 2011
Source ID
10.1126/science.1203307

Entities

People

  • Andreas P. Teske
  • Christof D. Meile
  • David Hollander
  • Evan Solomon
  • Gregor Rehder
  • Ian R. Macdonald
  • Ira Leifer
  • Jeffery P. Chanton
  • Joel E. Kostka
  • Joseph P. Montoya
  • Ludmila Chistoserdova
  • Miriam Kastner
  • Richard Coffin
  • Samantha B. Joye
  • Tina Treude
  • Tracy A. Villareal

Organizations

  • Florida State University
  • GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
  • Georgia Tech
  • Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde
  • United States Naval Research Laboratory
  • University of California
  • University of Georgia
  • University of North Carolina
  • University of South Florida
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • University of Washington

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.