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Project Progress

Our first paper of the model of hypersaline mats MBGC (Microbial BioGeoChemistry) was published. We worked to add a guild of methanogens to the model that relied on noncompetitive substrates such as trimethylamines for their methane metabolism. This work is currently being prepared for publication. We have also been continuing our work of completing the carbon cycle within the mat which is to prominently include the role of photorespitration and fermentation. Finally, we have devised a means of modeling gas flux from the mat surface through the water and out into the atmosphere. This includes several steps 1) moving gases across the diffusive boundry layer where diffusive flux dominates, but the boundry layer thickness varies wit flow rate of the water; 2) moving gases through the open water via eddy diffusion, and 3) moving gases across the air-water interface (a process involving an aqueous boundry layer and temperature- and salinity-dependent coefficients, as well as the windspeed over the water). We expect this work to be submitted for publication in December 2005.