Science Inventory

POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF HYDROGEN CONCENTRATION ON MICROBIAL METHANE STABLE HYDROGEN ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION

Citation:

Burke, Jr., R. POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF HYDROGEN CONCENTRATION ON MICROBIAL METHANE STABLE HYDROGEN ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-93/229 (NTIS PB93205128), 1993.

Description:

Factors affecting the stable hydrogen isotopic composition (6D) of important sources of microbial methane to the atmosphere include oxidation, methanogenic precursor (e.g., acetate vs. CO2/H2), and the 6D of the environmental water. ariations in hydrogen gas concentrations or rates of interspecies hydrogen transfer resulting from variations in organic matter degradation rates may also affect 6D-CH4. ethane produced via CO2 reduction by laboratory cultures (Balabane et al., 1987) was more D-depleted than methane produced in shallow marine sediments from CO/H2 The dissolved hydrogen gas concentration in that laboratory culture was about 1 mm; whereas, hydrogen concentrations in methane-zone sediments typically range between 10 and 100 nM (e.g., Conrad, 1989). he relatively greater hydrogen isotope fractionation in the culture appears to result from the incorporation into methane of protons that are produced intracellularly from the hydrogenase-catalyzed oxidation of hydrogen gas. s rumen basal hydrogen concentrations are typically greater than 1 PM (Smolenski and Robinson, 1988), this mechanism may explain why ruminant methane is more D-depleted (Wahlen et al., 1990) than methane produced via CO2 reduction in natural sedimentary environments. his process may also contribute to the wide variation in sedimentary 6D-CH4 observed in natural wetlands.

Record Details:

Record Type:DOCUMENT( REPORT )
Product Published Date:12/31/1993
Record Last Revised:12/22/2005
Record ID: 44198