Concept explainers
To review:
What researchers concluded after observing a drop in the level of dissolved oxygen, following the disappearance of methane in an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Introduction:
The methane disappeared following the oil spill; if it was used up by bacteria in the ocean, a metabolic trace would have been left behind.
Explanation of Solution
The methane could have disappeared from the site of the oil spill, for two reasons. It could have either drifted off to another part of the Gulf, or bacteria could have metabolized the methane and used it up. If the bacteria had used the methane, they would have required a large amount of oxygen for
When researchers found a corresponding drop in the oxygen levels, it confirmed their suspicions that the bacteria metabolized the missing methane. They also found through DNA sequences, that there were DNA fragments known to be found in methane-eating microbes, in the Gulf.
The drop in the oxygen levels at the site of the oil spill confirmed that bacteria had consumed and metabolized the methane that had leaked during the spill. Through DNA sequencing methods, the researchers also found DNA fragments identified in methane-eating microbes.
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