The Chesapeake Bay is a eutrophic estuary that undergoes seasonal bottom water hypoxia. Methane (CH 4 ) gas bubbles are found within the upper sediment layers, but whether this greenhouse gas escapes to the water column or the atmosphere is not well known. Here, we hypothesize that when bottom waters become anoxic, CH 4 is released from the sediments, builds up under the pycnocline, and escapes to the atmosphere at the end of hypoxia. Osmotically powered pumps (OsmoSamplers) were used for the first time to test this hypothesis.
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