Chapter 30
BUBBLES in the MUD: A Reminiscence
and Perspective
Ronald S. Oremland
Abstract I still feel a surge of excitement when, wading along some shore, my feet
stir up an effusion of bubbles from the underlying muck. My thoughts ensue: Are
they methane-rich, or perhaps composed of mixtures of nitrous oxide, hydrogen,
carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide? Do they contain exotics like ethane, dimethyl
sulfide, trimethylamine, or even a methylated arsine? Suppressing an urge to grab a
collection funnel, I resume my slog, leaving the unanswered questions for the next
generation.
So, how did I first acquire this curiosity concerning gaseous emanations, especially ones of biotic origin? It is a long story, but it is in essence my career path
allowing me to state unabashedly:
In small scientific circles, I am remembered for my gas.
30.1 A Reminiscence
My favorite high school subject was chemistry. Our teacher at Abraham Lincoln
H.S. in Brooklyn was Mr. Hal Rosenthal, a caring, soft-spoken man who nonetheless
had a clarity of presentation that allowed students to grasp difficult, novel concepts.
He also performed numerous classroom demonstrations that wound up making gas
bubbles, be they by reaction of metallic sodium with water or hydrochloric acid with
“mossy” zinc. The latter used a glass reaction vessel consisting of a bottle stoppered
with a small glass funnel inserted that allowed for the acid to be dribbled into the
reaction bottle, and a glass exit tube through the stopper which connected to rubber
tubing whereby the generated H 2 was collected by displacement of water from
another small inverted bottle. Inserting a lit wooden taper into the opened collection
bottle generated a small explosive “pop” thereby verifying that the product of the
reaction was H 2 . Similar demonstrations were of dilute acid with chalk to form CO 2 ,
R. S. Oremland (*)
Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, U.C. Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA,
USA
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. J. Hurst (ed.), Microbes: The Foundation Stone of the Biosphere, Advances in
Environmental Microbiology 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63512-1_30
637
BUBBLES in the MUD: A Reminiscence
and Perspective
Ronald S. Oremland
Abstract I still feel a surge of excitement when, wading along some shore, my feet
stir up an effusion of bubbles from the underlying muck. My thoughts ensue: Are
they methane-rich, or perhaps composed of mixtures of nitrous oxide, hydrogen,
carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide? Do they contain exotics like ethane, dimethyl
sulfide, trimethylamine, or even a methylated arsine? Suppressing an urge to grab a
collection funnel, I resume my slog, leaving the unanswered questions for the next
generation.
So, how did I first acquire this curiosity concerning gaseous emanations, especially ones of biotic origin? It is a long story, but it is in essence my career path
allowing me to state unabashedly:
In small scientific circles, I am remembered for my gas.
30.1 A Reminiscence
My favorite high school subject was chemistry. Our teacher at Abraham Lincoln
H.S. in Brooklyn was Mr. Hal Rosenthal, a caring, soft-spoken man who nonetheless
had a clarity of presentation that allowed students to grasp difficult, novel concepts.
He also performed numerous classroom demonstrations that wound up making gas
bubbles, be they by reaction of metallic sodium with water or hydrochloric acid with
“mossy” zinc. The latter used a glass reaction vessel consisting of a bottle stoppered
with a small glass funnel inserted that allowed for the acid to be dribbled into the
reaction bottle, and a glass exit tube through the stopper which connected to rubber
tubing whereby the generated H 2 was collected by displacement of water from
another small inverted bottle. Inserting a lit wooden taper into the opened collection
bottle generated a small explosive “pop” thereby verifying that the product of the
reaction was H 2 . Similar demonstrations were of dilute acid with chalk to form CO 2 ,
R. S. Oremland (*)
Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, U.C. Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA,
USA
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. J. Hurst (ed.), Microbes: The Foundation Stone of the Biosphere, Advances in
Environmental Microbiology 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63512-1_30
637