Dissolved Hydrogen, Facultatively Anaerobic, Hydrogen-Producing Bacteria, and Potential Hydrogen Production Rates in the Western North Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico

Dissolved hydrogen, the number of facultatively anaerobic, hydrogen-producing bacteria, and potential hydrogen production rates were measured at six stations in the western North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico in spring 1984. Dissolved hydrogen concentrations were near atmospheric equilibrium at the surface and decreased rapidly with depth. The number of facultative hydrogen producers, enumerated by an immunofluorescence technique, varied from 7 to 644 cells ml-1. At several stations, the maximum number of hydrogen-producer cells coincided with a subsurface dissolved hydrogen maximum and particle maximum. The results indicate that dissolved hydrogen concentrations are governed by a complex set of mechanisms with facultatively anaerobic, hydrogen-producing bacteria having a role in hydrogen production.