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Seasonal variations in the stable carbon isotopic signature of biogenic methane in a coastal sedimentSystematic seasonal variations in the stable carbon isotopic signature of methane gas occur in the anoxic sediments of Cape Lookout Bight, a lagoonal basin on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Values for the carbon isotope ratio of methane range from -57.3 per mil during summer to -68.5 per mil during winter in gas bubbles with an average methane content of 95 percent. The variations are hypothesized to result from changes in the pathways of microbial methane production and cycling of key substrates including acetate and hydrogen. The use of stable isotopic signatures to investigate the global methane cycle through mass balance calculations, involving various sediment and soil biogenic sources, appears to require seasonally averaged data from individual sites.
Document ID
19870029066
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Martens, C. S.
(North Carolina Univ. Chapel Hill, NC, United States)
Green, C. D.
(North Carolina, University Chapel Hill, United States)
Blair, N. E.
(North Carolina State University Raleigh, United States)
Des Marais, D. J.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 13, 2013
Publication Date
September 19, 1986
Publication Information
Publication: Science
Volume: 233
ISSN: 0036-8075
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Accession Number
87A16340
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-593
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF OCE-84-16963
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF OCE-82-08666
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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