Ocean Scientists Discover How Bacteria Produce Propane In The Deep Seafloor

During a research expedition off South America, scientists discover widespread ethane and propane produced by microorganisms in deeply-buried sediments. Their findings on the production of energy-laden gases appear in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings suggest that microbes in the ecosystem below the seafloor carry out hitherto unrecognized processes, relevant to both our understanding of global element cycles and the metabolic abilities of Earth's microbial biosphere. Link