METHANE BUGS

Mar 3, 2025

Chemistry of the deep sea is an ongoing mystery. But scientists are unraveling it bit by bit. They knew methane was being oxidized into carbon dioxide — yet this was happening in oxygen-starved waters where fish can’t survive. Was some organism doing this? The answer turns out to be that no single bug is responsible. It takes two microbes working together, using sulfate as a source of oxygen.