China Daily: Chinese research ship sets out for global voyage
GUANGZHOU -- The Chinese scientific research ship Dayang Yihao, or Ocean One, set sail here Wednesday, starting a 376-day global trip that will take it across the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
The vessel will conduct research on hot liquid sulfides and deep-sea biological diversity, said Tao Chunhui, the chief scientist of the ship's research team, during a media function held before the ship departed in Guangzhou, provincial capital of Guangdong in China's south.
Hot liquid sulfides, commonly known as "black chimneys" by researchers, can provide clues about the origins of life.
This will be China's 22nd deep-sea scientific research mission and the third global voyage of Dayang Yihao, an important oceanic science research vessel for China.
A total of 431 scientists will join the research in different phases of the voyage.
Dayang Yihao carries advanced scientific instruments including the "Sea Dragon 2," a remotely-operated underwater vehicle (ROV), as well as a powerful newly developed deep sea drilling machine.
The ship is expected to return home on December 18, 2011 after covering 45,000 nautical miles. It will make stops in South Africa, Brazil, Panama and Ecuador.
"It will be a trip of science, peace and harmony," said Wang Fei, deputy head of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) of China.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
First Underwater Robot To Cross Atlantic Highlighted At Smithsonian Ocean Hall
Underwater Times: First Underwater Robot To Cross Atlantic Highlighted At Smithsonian Ocean Hall
SILVER SPRING, Maryland -- The first underwater robotic vehicle — or "glider" — to cross an ocean will be the centerpiece of a new exhibit opening in the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on Dec. 9. The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) glider, operated by Rutgers University, carried out the trans-Atlantic journey last year, just months before the technology was used to help in the Deepwater Horizon BP response.
Rutgers scientists and students launched the trans-Atlantic glider, dubbed "the Scarlet Knight" in honor of the school's mascot, off the New Jersey coast in spring of last year. They and their Spanish colleagues from Puertos Del Estado (the Spanish Port Authority) recovered the glider off the Spanish coast after seven months at sea and brought it ashore in the small town of Baiona where Christopher Columbus' ship, the Pinta, landed with news of the New World more than 500 years ago. The glider reached Baiona on Dec. 9, 2009 — one year to the day of the exhibit being launched within the Smithsonian's Sant Ocean Hall.
"Gliders sample the ocean in places it is impractical to send people and at a fraction of the cost," said Zdenka Willis, director of the U.S. IOOS Program. "Using robots to collect scientific data is the wave of the future in terms of ocean observing."
Gliders collect data such as temperature, salinity, currents and density that describe conditions below the surface of the sea and at varying depths.
As part of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill response effort, IOOS partners deployed a fleet of gliders equipped with sensors to help indicate the presence of oil. Although scientists must still confirm the oil through water sampling, the gliders narrowed the search zone for subsurface oil.
"New technologies give us greater insight into how the ocean works. The trans-Atlantic glider, in particular, helped reduce uncertainty in some of our climate models," said Richard L. McCormick, Rutgers University president. "We are thrilled to work with IOOS to enhance this understanding at such a critical time for our planet."
"The Office of Naval Research is proud to join in celebrating this accomplishment," said Rear Adm. Nevin P. Carr Jr., chief of Naval Research. "We are always excited to see Navy basic research investments, such as this one in autonomous ocean sensing, pay off for the Navy and the ocean science community. These vehicles provide critical knowledge for naval operations as well as data that will assist in achieving a better understanding of the complex global marine environment."
IOOS is a federal, regional and private-sector partnership working to enhance our ability to collect, deliver and use ocean information. IOOS delivers the data and information needed to increase understanding of our oceans and coasts, so decision-makers can act to improve safety, enhance the economy and protect the environment.
SILVER SPRING, Maryland -- The first underwater robotic vehicle — or "glider" — to cross an ocean will be the centerpiece of a new exhibit opening in the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on Dec. 9. The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) glider, operated by Rutgers University, carried out the trans-Atlantic journey last year, just months before the technology was used to help in the Deepwater Horizon BP response.
Rutgers scientists and students launched the trans-Atlantic glider, dubbed "the Scarlet Knight" in honor of the school's mascot, off the New Jersey coast in spring of last year. They and their Spanish colleagues from Puertos Del Estado (the Spanish Port Authority) recovered the glider off the Spanish coast after seven months at sea and brought it ashore in the small town of Baiona where Christopher Columbus' ship, the Pinta, landed with news of the New World more than 500 years ago. The glider reached Baiona on Dec. 9, 2009 — one year to the day of the exhibit being launched within the Smithsonian's Sant Ocean Hall.
"Gliders sample the ocean in places it is impractical to send people and at a fraction of the cost," said Zdenka Willis, director of the U.S. IOOS Program. "Using robots to collect scientific data is the wave of the future in terms of ocean observing."
Gliders collect data such as temperature, salinity, currents and density that describe conditions below the surface of the sea and at varying depths.
As part of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill response effort, IOOS partners deployed a fleet of gliders equipped with sensors to help indicate the presence of oil. Although scientists must still confirm the oil through water sampling, the gliders narrowed the search zone for subsurface oil.
"New technologies give us greater insight into how the ocean works. The trans-Atlantic glider, in particular, helped reduce uncertainty in some of our climate models," said Richard L. McCormick, Rutgers University president. "We are thrilled to work with IOOS to enhance this understanding at such a critical time for our planet."
"The Office of Naval Research is proud to join in celebrating this accomplishment," said Rear Adm. Nevin P. Carr Jr., chief of Naval Research. "We are always excited to see Navy basic research investments, such as this one in autonomous ocean sensing, pay off for the Navy and the ocean science community. These vehicles provide critical knowledge for naval operations as well as data that will assist in achieving a better understanding of the complex global marine environment."
IOOS is a federal, regional and private-sector partnership working to enhance our ability to collect, deliver and use ocean information. IOOS delivers the data and information needed to increase understanding of our oceans and coasts, so decision-makers can act to improve safety, enhance the economy and protect the environment.
Dives To Gulf Seafloor Turn Up Sea Life Near Well
NPR: Dives To Gulf Seafloor Turn Up Sea Life Near Well
Scientists have been diving in the Gulf of Mexico on a miniature submarine to see how the ecosystems there are coping with the BP oil spill. The expedition gradually edged toward ground zero — the BP wellhead.
Looking for robust sea life in the Gulf isn't as odd as it may seem. From the coast of Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico may seem like a muddy sea sacrificed to the thirst for oil and gas. But that's not the case when you get far offshore. The waters there turn crystal clear. And, in places, marine life thrives on the seafloor.
In November, the three-person Alvin dived almost every day from the stern of the research vessel Atlantis, which sails from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Each day, as the Alvin came back onboard, scientists huddled around its collection basket to see the day's haul. On one dive Thanksgiving week, the Alvin returned with plexiglass cylinders filled with mud from the bottom, strange, red rock samples, and seawater in special pressure vessels.
Dives To An Underwater Lake
Andreas Teske, a professor of marine sciences at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, looks appreciatively at the day's treasure and declares that it is one of the best dives of the entire expedition.
He describes a habitat you would never expect to find nearly a mile under the sea: mussel beds, orange and white bacterial carpets that spread across the seafloor, along with the more predictable fish, shrimp and sea cucumbers. Strikingly, they were all arrayed around an underwater lake — a lake on the seafloor made up of supersalty water called brine.
Enlarge Richard Harris/NPR
Scientists fish a dead worm out of a core sample taken near the Macondo well.
Richard Harris/NPR
Scientists fish a dead worm out of a core sample taken near the Macondo well.
"You could see the surface of the brine pool just like the surface of a garden pond, totally clear," Teske says. "And in the brine pond, some animals that fell in [got] pickled — some crabs and others. So once they fall in, if they don't manage to climb out quickly, that's it!"
As a result, scientists dubbed this spot Dead Crab Lake.
Natural Oil Seeps
Expedition leader Samantha Joye, a marine sciences professor at the University of Georgia, learned about this rich and otherworldly habitat some 15 years ago when she took her first deep dive in the Gulf.
"I had never heard of such things; I had never really imagined they existed," she says. "It was a pretty spectacular first dive. It was a little lake you could have walked around with your dog, but it was under 1,600 feet of water."
This spot, about 20 miles from the BP oil well, seemed to be out of harm's way. But Joye says there are more than 1,000 biological hot spots like this in the Gulf of Mexico. And she's here to figure out what the oil spill might do to them.
Richard Harris/NPR
Ian MacDonald, a researcher from Florida State University, says that in many sites in the Gulf of Mexico, animals thrive near natural oil seeps. But he says the ecosystems are not evolved to deal with the vast amount of oil that spilled from the BP well.
The next day, she and colleague Ian MacDonald from Florida State University emerge from the Alvin talking about an even stranger place — where oil and gas seep naturally from the seabed.
"What a cool site — Oil Mountain!" MacDonald declares.
They excitedly review screenshots of their high-definition video. Joye says they saw worms that actually live in ice made from frozen methane and water. The worms didn't seem to mind being slathered with crude oil from the natural seepage.
"We actually got footage of a crab chomping on what we think are ice worms," Joye says. "It was just mind-boggling. I've never seen an invertebrate living in crude oil. But these guys were living in the crude oil, just as happy as could be."
Scientists have known about natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico for many years. MacDonald says this one is among the most active. "So here's a site like this that's been saturated in oil for 20,000 years probably, where the ecology, the organisms, the microbiology is completely adapted to dealing with this oil," he says.
But MacDonald adds that this seep is putting out only about one barrel of oil a day. Compare that with an estimated 60,000 barrels a day from the Macondo well.
"What happens to the natural ecosystem?" he asks. "How does that respond? How do the organisms cope with that?"
To answer those questions, the scientists will need to dive closer to the wellhead. And Joye will get to see for herself on her next trip on the Alvin.
Scientists have been diving in the Gulf of Mexico on a miniature submarine to see how the ecosystems there are coping with the BP oil spill. The expedition gradually edged toward ground zero — the BP wellhead.
Looking for robust sea life in the Gulf isn't as odd as it may seem. From the coast of Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico may seem like a muddy sea sacrificed to the thirst for oil and gas. But that's not the case when you get far offshore. The waters there turn crystal clear. And, in places, marine life thrives on the seafloor.
In November, the three-person Alvin dived almost every day from the stern of the research vessel Atlantis, which sails from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Each day, as the Alvin came back onboard, scientists huddled around its collection basket to see the day's haul. On one dive Thanksgiving week, the Alvin returned with plexiglass cylinders filled with mud from the bottom, strange, red rock samples, and seawater in special pressure vessels.
Dives To An Underwater Lake
Andreas Teske, a professor of marine sciences at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, looks appreciatively at the day's treasure and declares that it is one of the best dives of the entire expedition.
He describes a habitat you would never expect to find nearly a mile under the sea: mussel beds, orange and white bacterial carpets that spread across the seafloor, along with the more predictable fish, shrimp and sea cucumbers. Strikingly, they were all arrayed around an underwater lake — a lake on the seafloor made up of supersalty water called brine.
Enlarge Richard Harris/NPR
Scientists fish a dead worm out of a core sample taken near the Macondo well.
Richard Harris/NPR
Scientists fish a dead worm out of a core sample taken near the Macondo well.
"You could see the surface of the brine pool just like the surface of a garden pond, totally clear," Teske says. "And in the brine pond, some animals that fell in [got] pickled — some crabs and others. So once they fall in, if they don't manage to climb out quickly, that's it!"
As a result, scientists dubbed this spot Dead Crab Lake.
Natural Oil Seeps
Expedition leader Samantha Joye, a marine sciences professor at the University of Georgia, learned about this rich and otherworldly habitat some 15 years ago when she took her first deep dive in the Gulf.
"I had never heard of such things; I had never really imagined they existed," she says. "It was a pretty spectacular first dive. It was a little lake you could have walked around with your dog, but it was under 1,600 feet of water."
This spot, about 20 miles from the BP oil well, seemed to be out of harm's way. But Joye says there are more than 1,000 biological hot spots like this in the Gulf of Mexico. And she's here to figure out what the oil spill might do to them.
Richard Harris/NPR
Ian MacDonald, a researcher from Florida State University, says that in many sites in the Gulf of Mexico, animals thrive near natural oil seeps. But he says the ecosystems are not evolved to deal with the vast amount of oil that spilled from the BP well.
The next day, she and colleague Ian MacDonald from Florida State University emerge from the Alvin talking about an even stranger place — where oil and gas seep naturally from the seabed.
"What a cool site — Oil Mountain!" MacDonald declares.
They excitedly review screenshots of their high-definition video. Joye says they saw worms that actually live in ice made from frozen methane and water. The worms didn't seem to mind being slathered with crude oil from the natural seepage.
"We actually got footage of a crab chomping on what we think are ice worms," Joye says. "It was just mind-boggling. I've never seen an invertebrate living in crude oil. But these guys were living in the crude oil, just as happy as could be."
Scientists have known about natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico for many years. MacDonald says this one is among the most active. "So here's a site like this that's been saturated in oil for 20,000 years probably, where the ecology, the organisms, the microbiology is completely adapted to dealing with this oil," he says.
But MacDonald adds that this seep is putting out only about one barrel of oil a day. Compare that with an estimated 60,000 barrels a day from the Macondo well.
"What happens to the natural ecosystem?" he asks. "How does that respond? How do the organisms cope with that?"
To answer those questions, the scientists will need to dive closer to the wellhead. And Joye will get to see for herself on her next trip on the Alvin.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Aussie University Completes World's First Climate Change Reef Experiment Facility
Underwater Times: Aussie University Completes World's First Climate Change Reef Experiment Facility
BRISBANE, Australia -- In a world first, a new 'state of the art' climate change experimental facility has been completed at the University of Queensland's Heron Island Research Station.
The Climate Change Mesocosm (CCM) project led by Associate Professor Sophie Dove and Dr. David Kline from the Global Change Institute's Coral Reef Ecosystems Laboratory is one of the largest and most accurately controlled ocean acidification and warming experimental systems in the world and simulates ocean temperatures and acidification levels predicted to occur on coral reefs in the next 50 to 100 years.
Able to regulate both temperature and CO2 levels prescribed by the 2100 IPCC scenarios in a highly controlled environment, the CCM system allows studies of climate change from the molecular to the ecosystem level.
"While similar to the "Free Ocean Carbon Enrichment" (FOCE) project, recently featured in Sir David Attenborough's documentary "Death of the Oceans", the CCM differs in that it regulates the temperature, in addition to, the acidification levels above and below the current ambient conditions of water on the reef" said Dr Dove.
It is unique in so far as the experimental controls allow variation with respect to real-time conditions of CO2 and temperature measured in the adjacent deepwater of Wistari channel."
Conditions in the 72 experimental aquaria and 12 mini-reefs can then fluctuate a fixed amount above or below the ambient 'control' conditions, but importantly incorporate a day/night and seasonal variability."
The main components of the system are 4 x 7,500L custom built air-tight and insulated fibre-glass tanks or sumps which provide the necessary residence time of the water for the fine control of CO2 and temperature.
Dr David Kline a research fellow with the GCI explains "We are simulating preindustrial ocean conditions of -100 ppm CO2 and minus 1°C; a control treatment of current reef CO2 and temperature; the "B1" IPCC scenario of + 220ppm CO2 and +2°C, and an extreme "A1FI" scenario of +640 ppm CO2, +4.5 °C."
"In the eight months the FOCE system has been on the reef flat we have noticed the corals exposed to the higher CO2 levels look quite different. The types of algae are different and the growth rate of the coral appears to have slowed.
We expect to see similar results from the CCM experiments where reefal organisms respond to the dual influences of acidification and temperature."
BRISBANE, Australia -- In a world first, a new 'state of the art' climate change experimental facility has been completed at the University of Queensland's Heron Island Research Station.
The Climate Change Mesocosm (CCM) project led by Associate Professor Sophie Dove and Dr. David Kline from the Global Change Institute's Coral Reef Ecosystems Laboratory is one of the largest and most accurately controlled ocean acidification and warming experimental systems in the world and simulates ocean temperatures and acidification levels predicted to occur on coral reefs in the next 50 to 100 years.
Able to regulate both temperature and CO2 levels prescribed by the 2100 IPCC scenarios in a highly controlled environment, the CCM system allows studies of climate change from the molecular to the ecosystem level.
"While similar to the "Free Ocean Carbon Enrichment" (FOCE) project, recently featured in Sir David Attenborough's documentary "Death of the Oceans", the CCM differs in that it regulates the temperature, in addition to, the acidification levels above and below the current ambient conditions of water on the reef" said Dr Dove.
It is unique in so far as the experimental controls allow variation with respect to real-time conditions of CO2 and temperature measured in the adjacent deepwater of Wistari channel."
Conditions in the 72 experimental aquaria and 12 mini-reefs can then fluctuate a fixed amount above or below the ambient 'control' conditions, but importantly incorporate a day/night and seasonal variability."
The main components of the system are 4 x 7,500L custom built air-tight and insulated fibre-glass tanks or sumps which provide the necessary residence time of the water for the fine control of CO2 and temperature.
Dr David Kline a research fellow with the GCI explains "We are simulating preindustrial ocean conditions of -100 ppm CO2 and minus 1°C; a control treatment of current reef CO2 and temperature; the "B1" IPCC scenario of + 220ppm CO2 and +2°C, and an extreme "A1FI" scenario of +640 ppm CO2, +4.5 °C."
"In the eight months the FOCE system has been on the reef flat we have noticed the corals exposed to the higher CO2 levels look quite different. The types of algae are different and the growth rate of the coral appears to have slowed.
We expect to see similar results from the CCM experiments where reefal organisms respond to the dual influences of acidification and temperature."
More than one shark responsible for Red Sea resort attacks
Ottawa Citizen: More than one shark responsible for Red Sea resort attacks
Scientists scouring the waters off Egypt's premier Red Sea resort have admitted that they are facing a "worst case scenario" after concluding that a spate of attacks on swimmers was the work of at least two sharks.
Conservationists and marine biologists had hoped that a lone shark was responsible for the death of a German woman and the mauling of four other tourists in Sharm el-Sheikh over the past week.
But Egyptian officials in the Sinai peninsula disclosed Tuesday that a shortfin mako shark captured last week had been forensically identified as the culprit behind last Wednesday's attack on two swimmers from Russia and Ukraine.
"The bite on one of the victims has been matched with the teeth of the mako," said Ahmed el-Edkawy, the deputy secretary general of South Sinai governorate.
"We are confident that this shark was responsible for the second incident."
That one of the culprits responsible for the terror ?visited on Sharm el-Sheikh's beaches may have seemed like good news.
But with witnesses saying that the latest attack was carried out by a whitetip, scientists are being forced to confront the likelihood that sharks from two different species have developed man-killing tendencies. More worryingly, they have no idea how many sharks may now have a taste for human flesh - making both the hunt for the killers and a search for the explanation of their bizarre behaviour much more complicated.
"Our best case scenario was of a single shark that would move out of the area, solving the problem", said Elke Bojanowski, a German expert on Red Sea sharks.
"But if there was more than one, then we have to look for a trigger that is influencing the sharks' behaviour and it may be impossible to find. If we don't have a clue what the trigger is then what are we to do?"
Three experts from the United States flew into Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday to join the investigation. George Burgess, the Florida-based director of the International Shark Attack File, said the team was examining whether changes in underwater ecology or the illegal practice of baiting the sharks with meat could be responsible for the attacks. Scientists on the team said they had heard reports of tour guides throwing chickens from boats to attract the sharks.
The attacks have been confined to a three-mile stretch of shore, and at similar times of day, indicating that the sharks may be gathering at an area where they are used to being fed.
Egyptian authorities, already facing criticism for reopening beaches prematurely at the weekend, yesterday allowed swimming to go ahead outside the danger zone.
Gen el-Edkawy insisted yesterday that no tourists had cancelled their trips to Sharm el-Sheikh.
In an apparent attempt to prove the waters safe, he donned a wetsuit and jumped into the water just yards from the spot where the German woman was killed.
Emerging 20 minutes later, he pulled his mask to one side and proclaimed: "I saw a lot of beautiful marine life. It was wonderful. Everything is wonderful. This city is a gift from God and I'm sure everything is safe."
Scientists scouring the waters off Egypt's premier Red Sea resort have admitted that they are facing a "worst case scenario" after concluding that a spate of attacks on swimmers was the work of at least two sharks.
Conservationists and marine biologists had hoped that a lone shark was responsible for the death of a German woman and the mauling of four other tourists in Sharm el-Sheikh over the past week.
But Egyptian officials in the Sinai peninsula disclosed Tuesday that a shortfin mako shark captured last week had been forensically identified as the culprit behind last Wednesday's attack on two swimmers from Russia and Ukraine.
"The bite on one of the victims has been matched with the teeth of the mako," said Ahmed el-Edkawy, the deputy secretary general of South Sinai governorate.
"We are confident that this shark was responsible for the second incident."
That one of the culprits responsible for the terror ?visited on Sharm el-Sheikh's beaches may have seemed like good news.
But with witnesses saying that the latest attack was carried out by a whitetip, scientists are being forced to confront the likelihood that sharks from two different species have developed man-killing tendencies. More worryingly, they have no idea how many sharks may now have a taste for human flesh - making both the hunt for the killers and a search for the explanation of their bizarre behaviour much more complicated.
"Our best case scenario was of a single shark that would move out of the area, solving the problem", said Elke Bojanowski, a German expert on Red Sea sharks.
"But if there was more than one, then we have to look for a trigger that is influencing the sharks' behaviour and it may be impossible to find. If we don't have a clue what the trigger is then what are we to do?"
Three experts from the United States flew into Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday to join the investigation. George Burgess, the Florida-based director of the International Shark Attack File, said the team was examining whether changes in underwater ecology or the illegal practice of baiting the sharks with meat could be responsible for the attacks. Scientists on the team said they had heard reports of tour guides throwing chickens from boats to attract the sharks.
The attacks have been confined to a three-mile stretch of shore, and at similar times of day, indicating that the sharks may be gathering at an area where they are used to being fed.
Egyptian authorities, already facing criticism for reopening beaches prematurely at the weekend, yesterday allowed swimming to go ahead outside the danger zone.
Gen el-Edkawy insisted yesterday that no tourists had cancelled their trips to Sharm el-Sheikh.
In an apparent attempt to prove the waters safe, he donned a wetsuit and jumped into the water just yards from the spot where the German woman was killed.
Emerging 20 minutes later, he pulled his mask to one side and proclaimed: "I saw a lot of beautiful marine life. It was wonderful. Everything is wonderful. This city is a gift from God and I'm sure everything is safe."
Scientists: 'Chemoautotrophic' Life Thrives In Porous Rock Deep Beneath The Seafloor
UnderwaterTimes: Scientists: 'Chemoautotrophic' Life Thrives In Porous Rock Deep Beneath The Seafloor
SANTA CRUZ, California -- Researchers have found compelling evidence for an extensive biological community living in porous rock deep beneath the seafloor. The microbes in this hidden world appear to be an important source of dissolved organic matter in deep ocean water, a finding that could dramatically change ideas about the ocean carbon cycle.
Matthew McCarthy, associate professor of ocean sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, led a team of researchers from several institutions who analyzed the dissolved organic matter in fluids from natural vents on the seafloor and from a borehole that penetrated the basement rock deep beneath the seafloor sediments. Their results, to be published in the January issue of Nature Geoscience and currently available online, indicate that the dissolved material in those fluids was synthesized by microbes living in the porous basalt rock of the upper oceanic crust. These microbes are "chemoautotrophic," meaning they derive energy from chemical reactions and are completely independent of the sunlight-driven life on the surface of our planet.
Chemoautotrophic microbes (bacteria and archaea) have been found in deep-ocean sediments and at hydrothermal vents, where hot water flows out through newly formed volcanic rock at mid-ocean ridges. The idea that a much larger biological community might exist in habitats within the cooler upper-crustal rock that lies under large areas of the seafloor has been an exciting, but controversial, hypothesis, McCarthy said.
"What is really important about this is the huge size and extent of such systems," he said. "This study provides the strongest evidence yet that a really large biosphere exists in the warm fluids in the porous upper-oceanic crust. It's large not just in area, but in productivity. In the same way that forests and grasslands fix carbon and produce organic matter on land, our data suggest these microbes produce enough organic matter to export carbon to other systems. That's a real expansion of our ideas about the oceanic carbon cycle."
The existence of an extensive "alternate biosphere" beneath the ocean floor may also influence the thinking of astrobiologists about where life might exist elsewhere in our solar system, McCarthy said. Saturn's moon Europa, for example, is thought to have liquid oceans beneath its icy crust, prompting speculation about the possibility of life evolving there.
McCarthy's team found evidence of the hidden microbial ecosystem beneath the seafloor by analyzing carbon isotopes in the organic molecules in their samples. Of the three naturally occurring isotopes of carbon, carbon-12 is the most abundant, and both carbon-12 and the slightly heavier carbon-13 are stable. Carbon-14 is an unstable isotope formed in the upper atmosphere through the action of cosmic rays, and its steady decay is the basis for carbon-dating of organic material.
The ratios of these different isotopes provide telltale clues to the origins of organic molecules and the carbon atoms in them. Carbon-13 analysis, for example, indicates what kind of organisms synthesized the molecules. "Carbon-13 is really useful for looking at the origins of organic matter, because there are distinctive signatures for different sources," McCarthy said. "Chemosynthetic bacteria have wildly different signatures than anything else, and our carbon-13 results match the classic chemosynthetic values."
The team's carbon-14 analysis showed where the carbon in the organic molecules came from. If it came from the carbon in crustal rocks, there would be no carbon-14 at all. Instead, the carbon-14 signature indicated that the carbon came from dissolved inorganic carbon in deep seawater. This inorganic carbon pool consists of carbonate ions formed when carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in ocean water.
Carbon-14 dating indicated that the carbon in the dissolved organic matter is 11,800 to 14,400 years old--in other words, that's how long ago the carbon now in those organic molecules was absorbed from the atmosphere into the ocean. That's about three times older than the carbon-14 age of the overall pool of dissolved organic matter in the deep ocean. This suggests that water circulates very slowly through the deep microbial habitat in the rocks of the upper crust.
"The observation that this deep biosphere is apparently pumping very old, carbon-14-depleted dissolved organic matter into the deep ocean may be very important to our understanding of biogeochemical cycles," McCarthy said. "The reservoir of dissolved organic matter in the deep ocean is one of the largest active pools of organic carbon in the global carbon cycle, about the same size as the pool of atmospheric carbon dioxide."
The age of the deep-ocean water is used to estimate how quickly it turns over and returns to the surface layers. "If this very old pool of carbon is being mixed in and biasing the measurements, the deep-ocean water may actually be turning over more quickly than we thought," McCarthy said.
To obtain their samples, the researchers used custom-built equipment and a remotely operated deep-sea submersible, the ROV Jason II, from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Stainless-steel probes driven into an exposed rock outcrop and a specialized set of deep-sea sampling platforms designed at the University of Washington (UW) enabled them to recover the unprecedented quantities of uncontaminated crustal fluids needed for the analyses. The samples were collected during two expeditions to the Juan de Fuca Ridge system off the coast of Washington and British Columbia.
The key carbon-14 measurements on the recovered organic molecules were done through collaborations with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's accelerator facility and the Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator facility at UC Irvine. In addition to McCarthy, the coauthors include Steven Beaupré of WHOI; UCSC graduate student Brett Walker; Ian Voparil of Shell International Exploration and Production; Thomas Guilderson of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and Ellen Druffel of UC Irvine. H. Paul Johnson and Tor Bjorkland of the UW School of Oceanography were instrumental in the development and deployment of deep-sea samplers and probes. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the University of California, and the Packard Foundation.
SANTA CRUZ, California -- Researchers have found compelling evidence for an extensive biological community living in porous rock deep beneath the seafloor. The microbes in this hidden world appear to be an important source of dissolved organic matter in deep ocean water, a finding that could dramatically change ideas about the ocean carbon cycle.
Matthew McCarthy, associate professor of ocean sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, led a team of researchers from several institutions who analyzed the dissolved organic matter in fluids from natural vents on the seafloor and from a borehole that penetrated the basement rock deep beneath the seafloor sediments. Their results, to be published in the January issue of Nature Geoscience and currently available online, indicate that the dissolved material in those fluids was synthesized by microbes living in the porous basalt rock of the upper oceanic crust. These microbes are "chemoautotrophic," meaning they derive energy from chemical reactions and are completely independent of the sunlight-driven life on the surface of our planet.
Chemoautotrophic microbes (bacteria and archaea) have been found in deep-ocean sediments and at hydrothermal vents, where hot water flows out through newly formed volcanic rock at mid-ocean ridges. The idea that a much larger biological community might exist in habitats within the cooler upper-crustal rock that lies under large areas of the seafloor has been an exciting, but controversial, hypothesis, McCarthy said.
"What is really important about this is the huge size and extent of such systems," he said. "This study provides the strongest evidence yet that a really large biosphere exists in the warm fluids in the porous upper-oceanic crust. It's large not just in area, but in productivity. In the same way that forests and grasslands fix carbon and produce organic matter on land, our data suggest these microbes produce enough organic matter to export carbon to other systems. That's a real expansion of our ideas about the oceanic carbon cycle."
The existence of an extensive "alternate biosphere" beneath the ocean floor may also influence the thinking of astrobiologists about where life might exist elsewhere in our solar system, McCarthy said. Saturn's moon Europa, for example, is thought to have liquid oceans beneath its icy crust, prompting speculation about the possibility of life evolving there.
McCarthy's team found evidence of the hidden microbial ecosystem beneath the seafloor by analyzing carbon isotopes in the organic molecules in their samples. Of the three naturally occurring isotopes of carbon, carbon-12 is the most abundant, and both carbon-12 and the slightly heavier carbon-13 are stable. Carbon-14 is an unstable isotope formed in the upper atmosphere through the action of cosmic rays, and its steady decay is the basis for carbon-dating of organic material.
The ratios of these different isotopes provide telltale clues to the origins of organic molecules and the carbon atoms in them. Carbon-13 analysis, for example, indicates what kind of organisms synthesized the molecules. "Carbon-13 is really useful for looking at the origins of organic matter, because there are distinctive signatures for different sources," McCarthy said. "Chemosynthetic bacteria have wildly different signatures than anything else, and our carbon-13 results match the classic chemosynthetic values."
The team's carbon-14 analysis showed where the carbon in the organic molecules came from. If it came from the carbon in crustal rocks, there would be no carbon-14 at all. Instead, the carbon-14 signature indicated that the carbon came from dissolved inorganic carbon in deep seawater. This inorganic carbon pool consists of carbonate ions formed when carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in ocean water.
Carbon-14 dating indicated that the carbon in the dissolved organic matter is 11,800 to 14,400 years old--in other words, that's how long ago the carbon now in those organic molecules was absorbed from the atmosphere into the ocean. That's about three times older than the carbon-14 age of the overall pool of dissolved organic matter in the deep ocean. This suggests that water circulates very slowly through the deep microbial habitat in the rocks of the upper crust.
"The observation that this deep biosphere is apparently pumping very old, carbon-14-depleted dissolved organic matter into the deep ocean may be very important to our understanding of biogeochemical cycles," McCarthy said. "The reservoir of dissolved organic matter in the deep ocean is one of the largest active pools of organic carbon in the global carbon cycle, about the same size as the pool of atmospheric carbon dioxide."
The age of the deep-ocean water is used to estimate how quickly it turns over and returns to the surface layers. "If this very old pool of carbon is being mixed in and biasing the measurements, the deep-ocean water may actually be turning over more quickly than we thought," McCarthy said.
To obtain their samples, the researchers used custom-built equipment and a remotely operated deep-sea submersible, the ROV Jason II, from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Stainless-steel probes driven into an exposed rock outcrop and a specialized set of deep-sea sampling platforms designed at the University of Washington (UW) enabled them to recover the unprecedented quantities of uncontaminated crustal fluids needed for the analyses. The samples were collected during two expeditions to the Juan de Fuca Ridge system off the coast of Washington and British Columbia.
The key carbon-14 measurements on the recovered organic molecules were done through collaborations with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's accelerator facility and the Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator facility at UC Irvine. In addition to McCarthy, the coauthors include Steven Beaupré of WHOI; UCSC graduate student Brett Walker; Ian Voparil of Shell International Exploration and Production; Thomas Guilderson of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and Ellen Druffel of UC Irvine. H. Paul Johnson and Tor Bjorkland of the UW School of Oceanography were instrumental in the development and deployment of deep-sea samplers and probes. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the University of California, and the Packard Foundation.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Aquanauts Living on Ocean Floor Prepare to Surface
This is from August 26, 2010, Live Science: Aquanauts Living on Ocean Floor Prepare to Surface
From the cramped conditions inside a school-bus-sized metal tube at the bottom of the ocean, scientist Chris Finelli traded his scuba gear for a T-shirt and bare feet, ready to talk about his latest mission: monitoring sponges on Conch Reef, more than three miles off the coast of Florida.
Sponges, bottom-dwelling filter-feeders, are one of two players locked in a silent battle for supremacy that is taking place at these coral reefs and others across the globe.
As coral populations disappear — they're down by 90 percent around Florida — other species are fighting for the newly freed up ocean real estate. The two top contenders to take over are sponges and algae, and which one emerges victorious will have far-reaching consequences for the species that make their homes in coral reefs and for the humans that depend on them.
In the face of such serious subject matter, Finelli still worried he sounded a bit like Donald Duck, explaining that at 50 feet (15 meters) below the ocean's surface, the extreme pressure can make people sound like they've sucked in a hit of helium.
"You get used to hearing yourself in a funny voice when you're down here," said the University of North Carolina Wilmington associate professor.
Finelli, along with several UNCW grad students and technicians, has been living deep under water for nine days now, aboard the Aquarius, the only seafloor laboratory and habitat in the world. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) owns the facility, which is run by UNCW.
Ocean researchers can conduct much longer dives from the Aquarius than are possible from a boat, and UNCW has been taking advantage of this since 1997, when this sponge study first got under way.
The research is partly focused on giant barrel sponges, which were recently revealed to be among the oldest living organisms on the planet. The largest of the species can grow up to 20 feet (6 meters) across and live up to 2,000 years.
Although the barrel sponges found on Conch Reef aren't quite that enormous, all sponges play an important role in maintaining water quality. Sponges filter about 100 times their own volume every hour, cleaning the ocean and moving nutrients through the ecosystem. They also provide a home for creatures in a way that is somewhat similar to coral reefs.
Algae and seaweed don't do any of those things though, said Joseph Pawlik, a UNCW professor, speaking from his office. If these plants win the ocean-bottom war, it could destroy valuable habitat.
"If you can't have corals, better that you should have sponges, rather than macroalgae," Pawlik said. And right now it looks like sponges in the area are winning out over algae and seaweed, he said. Over the last six years, he added, Florida has seen barrel sponges increase by 40 percent.
Finelli's findings seem to support this increase. The team discovered a huge number of young sponges within the 50-foot (16-meter) -diameter study area, something Finelli said was a nice surprise.
However, despite the marked increase in baby sponges the team found, Pawlik said, it's not clear whether the total amount of sponge biomass is increasing or decreasing.
"The interesting thing is we've also seen diseases take out some of the largest individuals on the reef," Pawlik said, so whether or not the sheer amount of sponge tissue in the oceans is increasing isn't known.
Finelli and his team will began the 16-hour decompression process on Wendesday of this week, and will swim to the surface on Thursday. After spending nine hours each day on dives, the team will need time for their lungs to adjust to life back on dry land.
From the cramped conditions inside a school-bus-sized metal tube at the bottom of the ocean, scientist Chris Finelli traded his scuba gear for a T-shirt and bare feet, ready to talk about his latest mission: monitoring sponges on Conch Reef, more than three miles off the coast of Florida.
Sponges, bottom-dwelling filter-feeders, are one of two players locked in a silent battle for supremacy that is taking place at these coral reefs and others across the globe.
As coral populations disappear — they're down by 90 percent around Florida — other species are fighting for the newly freed up ocean real estate. The two top contenders to take over are sponges and algae, and which one emerges victorious will have far-reaching consequences for the species that make their homes in coral reefs and for the humans that depend on them.
In the face of such serious subject matter, Finelli still worried he sounded a bit like Donald Duck, explaining that at 50 feet (15 meters) below the ocean's surface, the extreme pressure can make people sound like they've sucked in a hit of helium.
"You get used to hearing yourself in a funny voice when you're down here," said the University of North Carolina Wilmington associate professor.
Finelli, along with several UNCW grad students and technicians, has been living deep under water for nine days now, aboard the Aquarius, the only seafloor laboratory and habitat in the world. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) owns the facility, which is run by UNCW.
Ocean researchers can conduct much longer dives from the Aquarius than are possible from a boat, and UNCW has been taking advantage of this since 1997, when this sponge study first got under way.
The research is partly focused on giant barrel sponges, which were recently revealed to be among the oldest living organisms on the planet. The largest of the species can grow up to 20 feet (6 meters) across and live up to 2,000 years.
Although the barrel sponges found on Conch Reef aren't quite that enormous, all sponges play an important role in maintaining water quality. Sponges filter about 100 times their own volume every hour, cleaning the ocean and moving nutrients through the ecosystem. They also provide a home for creatures in a way that is somewhat similar to coral reefs.
Algae and seaweed don't do any of those things though, said Joseph Pawlik, a UNCW professor, speaking from his office. If these plants win the ocean-bottom war, it could destroy valuable habitat.
"If you can't have corals, better that you should have sponges, rather than macroalgae," Pawlik said. And right now it looks like sponges in the area are winning out over algae and seaweed, he said. Over the last six years, he added, Florida has seen barrel sponges increase by 40 percent.
Finelli's findings seem to support this increase. The team discovered a huge number of young sponges within the 50-foot (16-meter) -diameter study area, something Finelli said was a nice surprise.
However, despite the marked increase in baby sponges the team found, Pawlik said, it's not clear whether the total amount of sponge biomass is increasing or decreasing.
"The interesting thing is we've also seen diseases take out some of the largest individuals on the reef," Pawlik said, so whether or not the sheer amount of sponge tissue in the oceans is increasing isn't known.
Finelli and his team will began the 16-hour decompression process on Wendesday of this week, and will swim to the surface on Thursday. After spending nine hours each day on dives, the team will need time for their lungs to adjust to life back on dry land.
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