Rates and pathways of CH4 oxidation in ferruginous Lake Matano, Indonesia.

This study evaluates rates and pathways of methane (CH4 ) oxidation and uptake using 14 C-based tracer experiments throughout the oxic and anoxic waters of ferruginous Lake Matano. Methane oxidation rates in Lake Matano are moderate (0.36 nmol L-1  day-1 to 117 μmol L-1  day-1 ) compared to other lakes, but are sufficiently high to preclude strong CH4 fluxes to the atmosphere. In addition to aerobic CH4 oxidation, which takes place in Lake Matano's oxic mixolimnion, we also detected CH4 oxidation in Lake Matano's anoxic ferruginous waters. Here, CH4 oxidation proceeds in the apparent absence of oxygen (O2 ) and instead appears to be coupled to some as yet uncertain combination of nitrate ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msubsup><mml:mtext>NO</mml:mtext> <mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msubsup> </mml:math> ), nitrite ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msubsup><mml:mtext>NO</mml:mtext> <mml:mrow><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:mrow> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:msubsup> </mml:math> ), iron (Fe) or manganese (Mn), or sulfate ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msubsup><mml:mtext>SO</mml:mtext> <mml:mrow><mml:mn>4</mml:mn></mml:mrow> <mml:mrow><mml:mn>2</mml:mn> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> ) reduction. Throughout the lake, the fraction of CH4 carbon that is assimilated vs. oxidized to carbon dioxide (CO2 ) is high (up to 93%), indicating extensive CH4 conversion to biomass and underscoring the importance of CH4 as a carbon and energy source in Lake Matano and potentially other ferruginous or low productivity environments.