Seasonal Study of Methane Oxidation in Lake Washington

Abstract
The distribution of methane and methane-oxidizing bacteria in the water column of Lake Washington was determined monthly for 1 year. The methane profiles were relatively constant, with little stratification and low concentrations (0.05 to 0.5 μM). The number of methane-oxidizing bacteria detected by a filter-plating method was routinely Kms for methane and oxygen were determined for samples from the top 1.0 cm of the sediment and found to be ca. 10 and 20 μM, respectively. Projected values for methane oxidation rates suggested that maximum methane oxidation occurred in the top 0.5 cm of the sediment.