BGD Biogeosciences Discussions BGD 1810-6285 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/bgd-6-10355-2009 Methane production in aerobic oligotrophic surface water in the central Arctic Ocean Damm E. 1 Helmke E. 1 Thoms S. 1 Schauer U. 1 Nöthig E. 1 Bakker K. 2 Kiene R. P. 3 4 Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, P.O. Box 12061, 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, Alabama, USA 11 11 2009 6 6 10355 10379 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/6/10355/2009/bgd-6-10355-2009.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/6/10355/2009/bgd-6-10355-2009.pdf

A methane surplus relative to the atmospheric equilibrium is a frequent feature of ocean surface water. Despite the common fact that biological processes are responsible for its origin, the formation of methane in aerobic surface water is still poorly understood. We report on methane production in the central Arctic Ocean, which was exclusively detected in Pacific derived water but not nearby in Atlantic derived water. Both water masses are distinguished by their different nitrate to phosphate ratios. We show that methane production occurs if nitrate is depleted but phosphate as P source is available. Apparently the low N:P ratio enhances the ability of bacteria to compete for phosphate while the phytoplankton metabolite dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is utilized as a C source. This was verified by experimentally induced methane production in DMSP spiked Arctic sea water. Accordingly we propose that methylated compounds may serve as precursors for methane and thermodynamic calculations show that methylothrophic methanogenesis can provide energy in aerobic environments.

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