Polyphenol rewiring of the microbiome reduces methane emissions.

Methane mitigation is regarded as a critical strategy to combat the scale of global warming. Currently, about 40% of methane emissions originate from microbial sources, which is causing strategies to suppress methanogens, either through direct toxic effects or by diverting their substrates and energy, to gain traction. Problematically, current microbial methane mitigation knowledge derives from rumen studies and lacks detailed microbiome-centered insights, limiting translation across ecosystems.

Mapping spatial and temporal variation of seafloor organic matter ΔC and δC in the Northern Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, large amounts of biodegraded oil (petrocarbon) sank to the seafloor. Our objectives were to 1) determine post-spill isotopic values as the sediments approached a new baseline and 2) track the recovery of affected sediments. Sediment organic carbon δC and ΔC reached a post-spill baseline averaging -21.

The southern Gulf of Mexico: A baseline radiocarbon isoscape of surface sediments and isotopic excursions at depth.

The southern Gulf of Mexico (sGoM) is home to an extensive oil recovery and development infrastructure. In addition, the basin harbors sites of submarine hydrocarbon seepage and receives terrestrial inputs from bordering rivers. We used stable carbon, nitrogen, and radiocarbon analyses of bulk sediment organic matter to define the current baseline isoscapes of surface sediments in the sGoM and determined which factors might influence them.

Petrocarbon evolution: Ramped pyrolysis/oxidation and isotopic studies of contaminated oil sediments from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hydrocarbons released during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill weathered due to exposure to oxygen, light, and microbes. During weathering, the hydrocarbons' reactivity and lability was altered, but it remained identifiable as "petrocarbon" due to its retention of the distinctive isotope signatures (14C and 13C) of petroleum. Relative to the initial estimates of the quantity of oil-residue deposited in Gulf sediments based on 2010-2011 data, the overall coverage and quantity of the fossil carbon on the seafloor has been attenuated.

Using natural abundance radiocarbon to trace the flux of petrocarbon to the seafloor following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon accident released 4.6–6.0 × 10(11) grams or 4.