Carbon monoxide and methane are important trace gases in the surface waters of the marine environment. An understanding of the mechanisms by which these gases are produced and consumed is important to our understanding of carbon cycling in the world's oceans. The chemolithotrophic ammonium oxidizing bacteria appear to play an important role in the consumption of these gases and thus represent an important link between the carbon and nitrogen production of CO and on the rate of ammonium and nitrite oxidation. Microbial processes are hypothesized to play an important role in the formation of photochemically active species involved in CO production. The objectives of this 3-year laboratory and field program are to: (1) examine the photochemical and photobiological sources and rates of CO production; and (2) examine the spatial and temporal distribution of CO, CH4, inorganic nitrogen, terrestrial and marine sources of photochemically active species, and trace gas consumption. This research will provide information related to the coupling of the nitrogen and carbon cycles, the role of microorganisms in the formation and consumption of CO, the distribution of; CO, CH4, NH4+, NO-2, and NO3-, the organic sources of CO photoproduction and the wavelengths involved in CO photoproduction.
