There have been several reports of landfills exhibiting temperatures as high as 80 to 100 °C. This observation has motivated researchers to understand the causes of the elevated temperatures and to develop predictive models of landfill temperature. The objective of this research was to characterize the methanogenic activity of microbial communities that were derived from landfill samples excavated from a section of a landfill exhibiting gas well temperatures above 55 °C. Specific objectives were to: (1) determine the upper temperature limit for methane production; (2) evaluate the kinetics of methane generation when landfill-derived microcosms are incubated above and below their excavation temperature and derive a temperature inhibition function; and (3) evaluate microbial community shifts in response to temperature perturbations. Landfill microcosms were derived from 57 excavated landfill samples and incubated within $\pm$2.5 °C of their excavation temperature between 42.5 °C and 87.5 °C. Results showed an optimum temperature for methane generation of ~57 °C and a 95% reduction in methane yield at ~72 °C. When select cultures were perturbed between 5 °C below and 15 °C above their in-situ temperature, both the rate and maximum methane production decreased as incubation temperature increased. Microbial community characterization using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing suggests that thermophilic methanogenic activity can be attributed to methanogens of the genus Methanothermobacter. This study demonstrated that from a microbiological standpoint, landfills may maintain active methanogenic processes while experiencing temperatures in the thermophilic regime (<72 °C).

有几篇关于垃圾掩埋场温度高达80至100°C的报道。这项发现促使研究人员了解高温的原因并建立垃圾掩埋温度的预测模型。这项研究的目的是表征微生物群落的产甲烷活性，这些微生物群落是从一部分气井温度高于55°C的垃圾掩埋场挖出的垃圾掩埋场样本中提取的。具体目标是：（1）确定甲烷生产的温度上限；（2）评价将垃圾填埋场衍生的微生物在其挖掘温度以上和以下孵育时产生甲烷的动力学，并得出温度抑制作用；（3）评估微生物群落对温度变化的响应。$\pm$其挖掘温度为2.5°C，介于42.5°C和87.5°C之间。结果显示，甲烷生成的最佳温度约为57°C，而甲烷生成的最佳温度约为72°C，降低了95％。当选择的培养物5℃以下和15℃以上的扰动之间的原位温度，速率和最大甲烷产生作为温育温度的增加而降低。使用的16S rRNA序列扩增微生物群落特征表明，嗜热产甲烷活性可以归因于属的甲烷Methanothermobacter。这项研究表明，从微生物学的角度来看，垃圾填埋场可能会保持活跃的产甲烷过程，同时处于高温状态（<72°C）。