Methanol Concentrations and Biological Methanol Consumption in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

Abstract Methanol metabolism can play an important role in marine carbon cycling. We made contemporaneous measurements of methanol concentration and consumption rates in the northwest Pacific Ocean to constrain the pathways and dynamics of methanol cycling. Methanol was detected in relatively low concentrations (89.7% of methanol was utilized as an energy source. Surface water acted as a net methanol sink at most sites, with an average flux of 9 μmol L−1 day−1. Atmospheric deposition accounted for 22.7% of microbial methanol consumption in the mixed layer, illustrating that the atmosphere is less important than internal processes for driving methanol cycling in these pelagic waters.