[Blueflag]

This is IMH-educated-O complete and utter JUNK SCIENCE.

“two to three months after engineers finally capped the well, the gas was gone. All of the evidence points to an explosion of methane-eating bacteria.” NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

Methane is essentially INSOLUBLE in salt water. Methane GAS, originating from the busted well head or from sublimating methane hydrate(s) would NOT persist in the marine environment under ANY circumstances. The methane CH4 would either escape into the atmosphere or reform as crystalline methane hydrate.

The bacteria in the Gulf waters DID however ‘eat’ a lot of hydrocarbons — specifically CRUDE OIL and its fractions.

As a recovering Marine Scientist this kind of article (which I did NOT read in its entirety) just pi$$es me off so bad.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Glad for more information Blueflag.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Methane is essentially INSOLUBLE in salt water. Methane GAS, originating from the busted well head or from sublimating methane hydrate(s) would NOT persist in the marine environment under ANY circumstances. The methane CH4 would either escape into the atmosphere or reform as crystalline methane hydrate."

Sorry, not correct. "Essemtially insoluble" is NOT the same as "completely insoluble". "Some" methane WILL dissolve:

www.geochem-model.org/publications/43-GCA_2006_3369.pdf

Yeah, a some of it made it to the surface and escaped, and some was trapped on the sea floor as hydrate, but a signficant fraction also dissolved as the hydrocarbon colum was rising through the FIVE MILES of depth in those regions where the temps are too high for hydrate formation.

[corvus]

“Methane is essentially INSOLUBLE in salt water...”

Thank you for your post here of reasoned observation. Seems one of the things in this discussion that has been missing has to do with the nature of the product that was actually released into the Gulf. There was some discussion of disappearing ‘plumes’ of oil, but very little as to the nature of these methyl hydrates that were so critical, at first, to the challenge to cap the discharge at the sea floor. Ultimately, under less pressure, these compounds would progressively volatilize. None of this was very clearly reported during the event.

[CedarDave]

The methane CH4 would either escape into the atmosphere or reform as crystalline methane hydrate.

I recall the BP engineers worrying that the change in state from a gas to a solid (methane hydrate) as it emerged from the bent drill/riser pipe would plug oil recovery equipment they were using to capture the oil.