Methanol Concentrations and Biological Methanol Consumption in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Methanol metabolism can play an important role in marine carbon cycling. We made contemporaneous measurements of methanol concentration and consumption rates in the northwest Pacific Ocean to constrain the pathways and dynamics of methanol cycling. Methanol was detected in relatively low concentrations (<12–391 nM), likely due to rapid biological turnover. Rates of methanol oxidation to CO2 (0.9–130.5 nmol L−1 day−1) were much higher than those of assimilation into biomass (0.09–6.8 nmol L−1 day−1), suggesting that >89.7% of methanol was utilized as an energy source. Surface water acted as a net methanol sink at most sites, with an average flux of 9 μmol L−1 day−1. Atmospheric deposition accounted for 22.7% of microbial methanol consumption in the mixed layer, illustrating that the atmosphere is less important than internal processes for driving methanol cycling in these pelagic waters.

Description

Zhen Zhou et al, 2023, Methanol Concentrations and Biological Methanol Consumption in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, Geophysical Research Letters, 50, Citation number, 10.1029/2022GL101605. To view the published open abstract, go to https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL101605

Keywords

methanol, pacific ocean, concentrations, methanol consumption

Citation

Zhou, Z., Zhuang, G.-C., Mao, S.-H., Liu, J., Li, X.-J., Liu, Q., et al. (2023). Methanol concentrations and biological methanol consumption in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 50, e2022GL101605. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL101605
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