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  • 1
    Publication Date: 2023-07-18
    Description: Methane seeps are typified by the formation of authigenic carbonates, many of which exhibit corrosion surfaces and secondary porosity believed to be caused by microbial carbonate dissolution. Aerobic methane oxidation and sulfur oxidation are two processes capable of inducing carbonate corrosion at methane seeps. Although the potential of aerobic methanotrophy to dissolve carbonate was confirmed in laboratory experiments, this process has not been studied in the environment to date. Here, we report on a carbonate corrosion experiment carried out in the REGAB Pockmark, Gabon‐Congo‐Angola passive margin, in which marble cubes were deployed for 2.5 years at two sites (CAB‐B and CAB‐C) with apparent active methane seepage and one site (CAB‐D) without methane seepage. Marble cubes exposed to active seepage (experiment CAB‐C) were found to be affected by a new type of microbioerosion. Based on 16〈italic toggle="no"〉S r〈/italic〉RNA gene analysis, the biofilms adhering to the bioeroded marble mostly consisted of aerobic methanotrophic bacteria, predominantly belonging to the uncultured Hyd24‐01 clade. The presence of abundant 〈sup〉13〈/sup〉C‐depleted lipid biomarkers including fatty acids (〈italic toggle="no"〉n〈/italic〉‐C〈sub〉16:1ω8c〈/sub〉, 〈italic toggle="no"〉n〈/italic〉‐C〈sub〉18:1ω8c〈/sub〉, 〈italic toggle="no"〉n〈/italic〉‐C〈sub〉16:1ω5t〈/sub〉), various 4‐mono‐ and 4,4‐dimethyl sterols, and diplopterol agrees with the dominance of aerobic methanotrophs in the CAB‐C biofilms. Among the lipids of aerobic methanotrophs, the uncommon 4α‐methylcholest‐8(14)‐en‐3β,25‐diol is interpreted to be a specific biomarker for the Hyd24‐01 clade. The combination of textural, genetic, and organic geochemical evidence suggests that aerobic methanotrophs are the main drivers of carbonate dissolution observed in the CAB‐C experiment at the REGAB pockmark.〈/p〉
    Description: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001655
    Keywords: ddc:550 ; carbonate ; corrosion ; lipid biomarker ; methane seep ; methanotrophic bacteria ; microbioerosion
    Language: English
    Type: doc-type:article
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2020-02-06
    Description: Highlights • Deep-sea mineral exploration and exploitation licenses have been issued recently. • Mining will modify the abiotic and biotic environment. • At directly mined sites, species are removed and cannot resist disturbance. • Recovery is highly variable in distinct ecosystems and among benthic taxa. • Community changes may persist over geological time-scales at directly mined sites. Abstract With increasing demand for mineral resources, extraction of polymetallic sulphides at hydrothermal vents, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts at seamounts, and polymetallic nodules on abyssal plains may be imminent. Here, we shortly introduce ecosystem characteristics of mining areas, report on recent mining developments, and identify potential stress and disturbances created by mining. We analyze species’ potential resistance to future mining and perform meta-analyses on population density and diversity recovery after disturbances most similar to mining: volcanic eruptions at vents, fisheries on seamounts, and experiments that mimic nodule mining on abyssal plains. We report wide variation in recovery rates among taxa, size, and mobility of fauna. While densities and diversities of some taxa can recover to or even exceed pre-disturbance levels, community composition remains affected after decades. The loss of hard substrata or alteration of substrata composition may cause substantial community shifts that persist over geological timescales at mined sites.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2021-03-19
    Description: Identification of benthic megafauna is commonly based on analysis of physical samples or imagery acquired by cameras mounted on underwater platforms. Physical collection of samples is difficult, particularly from the deep sea, and identification of taxonomic morphotypes from imagery depends on resolution and investigator experience. Here, we show how an Underwater Hyperspectral Imager (UHI) can be used as an alternative in situ taxonomic tool for benthic megafauna. A UHI provides a much higher spectral resolution than standard RGB imagery, allowing marine organisms to be identified based on specific optical fingerprints. A set of reference spectra from identified organisms is established and supervised classification performed to identify benthic megafauna semi-autonomously. The UHI data provide an increased detection rate for small megafauna difficult to resolve in standard RGB imagery. In addition, seafloor anomalies with distinct spectral signatures are also detectable. In the region investigated, sediment anomalies (spectral reflectance minimum at ~675 nm) unclear in RGB imagery were indicative of chlorophyll a on the seafloor. Underwater hyperspectral imaging therefore has a great potential in seafloor habitat mapping and monitoring, with areas of application ranging from shallow coastal areas to the deep sea.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 4
    Publication Date: 2021-02-08
    Description: Future deep-sea mining for polymetallic nodules in abyssal plains will negatively impact the benthic ecosystem, but it is largely unclear whether this ecosystem will be able to recover from mining disturbance and if so, to what extent and at what timescale. During the "DISturbance and reCOLonization" (DISCOL) experiment, a total of 22% of the seafloor within a 10.8km2 circular area of the nodule-rich seafloor in the Peru Basin (SE Pacific) was ploughed in 1989 to bury nodules and mix the surface sediment. This area was revisited 0.1, 0.5, 3, 7, and 26 years after the disturbance to assess macrofauna, invertebrate megafauna and fish density and diversity. We used this unique abyssal faunal time series to develop carbon-based food web models for each point in the time series using the linear inverse modeling approach for sediments subjected to two disturbance levels: (1) outside the plough tracks; not directly disturbed by plough, but probably suffered from additional sedimentation; and (2) inside the plough tracks. Total faunal carbon stock was always higher outside plough tracks compared with inside plough tracks. After 26 years, the carbon stock inside the plough tracks was 54% of the carbon stock outside plough tracks. Deposit feeders were least affected by the disturbance, with modeled respiration, external predation, and excretion rates being reduced by only 2.6% inside plough tracks compared with outside plough tracks after 26 years. In contrast, the respiration rate of filter and suspension feeders was 79.5% lower in the plough tracks after 26 years. The "total system throughput" (T..), i.e., the total sum of modeled carbon flows in the food web, was higher throughout the time series outside plough tracks compared with the corresponding inside plough tracks area and was lowest inside plough tracks directly after the disturbance (8.63 × 10−3±1.58 × 10−5mmolCm−2d−1). Even 26 years after the DISCOL disturbance, the discrepancy of T.. between outside and inside plough tracks was still 56%. Hence, C cycling within the faunal compartments of an abyssal plain ecosystem remains reduced 26 years after physical disturbance, and a longer period is required for the system to recover from such a small-scale sediment disturbance experiment.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 5
    Publication Date: 2021-05-07
    Description: Incirrate octopods (those without fins) are among the larger megafauna inhabiting the benthic environments of all oceans, commonly in water depths down to about 3,000 m. They are known to protect and brood their eggs until the juveniles hatch, but to date there is little published information on octopod deep-sea life cycles and distribution. For this study, three manganese-crust and nodule-abundant regions of the deep Pacific were examined by remote operated-vehicle and towed camera surveys carried out between 2011 and 2016. Here, we report that the depth range of incirrate octopods can now be extended to at least 4,290 m. Octopods (twenty-nine individuals from two distinct species) were observed on the deep Ka‘ena and Necker Ridges of the Hawaiian Archipelago, and in a nodule-abundant region of the Peru Basin. Two octopods were observed to be brooding clutches of eggs that were laid on stalks of dead sponges attached to nodules at depths exceeding 4,000 m. This is the first time such a specific mineral-biota association has been observed for incirrate octopods. Both broods consisted of approximately 30 large (2.0–2.7 cm) eggs. Given the low annual water temperature of 1.5oC, it is likely that egg development, and hence brooding, takes years [1] . Stalked-sponge fauna in the Peru Basin require the presence of manganese nodules as a substrate, and near total collapse of such sponge populations was observed following the experimental removal of nodules within the DISCOL (DISturbance and COLonisation) area of the Peru Basin [2] . Stalked fauna are also abundant on the hard substrates of the Hawaiian archipelago. The brooding behavior of the octopods we observed suggests that, like the sponges, they may also be susceptible to habitat loss following the removal of nodule fields and crusts by commercial exploitation.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 6
    Publication Date: 2021-01-08
    Description: Highlights • Total modeled carbon cycling at disturbed sites is lower than at reference sites. • Projected microbial loop functioning is reduced 26 years after sediment disturbance. • Estimated faunal respiration has recovered from sediment disturbance. • Estimated microbial respiration has not recovered from the sediment disturbance. Abstract Due to the predicted future demand for critical metals, abyssal plains covered with polymetallic nodules are currently being prospected for deep-seabed mining. Deep-seabed mining will lead to significant sediment disturbance over large spatial scales and for extended periods of time. The environmental impact of a small-scale sediment disturbance was studied during the ‘DISturbance and reCOLonization’ (DISCOL) experiment in the Peru Basin in 1989 when 10.8 km2 of seafloor were ploughed with a plough harrow. Here, we present a detailed description of carbon-based food-web models constructed from various datasets collected in 2015, 26 years after the experiment. Detailed observations of the benthic food web were made at three distinct sites: inside 26-year old plough tracks (IPT, subjected to direct impact from ploughing), outside the plough tracks (OPT, exposed to settling of resuspended sediment), and at reference sites (REF, no impact). The observations were used to develop highly-resolved food-web models for each site that quantified the carbon (C) fluxes between biotic (ranging from prokaryotes to various functional groups in meio-, macro-, and megafauna) and abiotic (e.g. detritus) compartments. The model outputs were used to estimate total system throughput, i.e., the sum of all C flows in the food web (the ‘ecological size’ of the system), and microbial loop functioning, i.e., the C-cycling through the prokaryotic compartment for each site. Both the estimated total system throughput and the microbial loop cycling were significantly reduced (by 16% and 35%, respectively) inside the plough tracks compared to the other two sites. Site differences in modelled faunal respiration varied among the different faunal compartments. Overall, modelled faunal respiration appeared to have recovered to, or exceeded reference values after 26-years. The model results indicate that food-web functioning, and especially the microbial loop, have not recovered from the disturbance that was inflicted on the abyssal site 26 years ago.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed
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  • 7
    Publication Date: 2022-01-07
    Description: Since the late 1980s, various experiments have been conducted in polymetallic nodule fields of the Pacific Ocean to assess the potential environmental impacts of future mining, specifically in two areas: the Peru Basin and the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ). Two expeditions, SO242/2 in 2015 (Peru Basin) and SO268/1 + 2 in 2019 (CCZ), deployed a towed camera system to collect imagery from both areas. These expeditions aimed to assess recovery of fauna in the short (few weeks) and long term (several years) following physical seafloor disturbance actions designed to mimic potential mining, by ploughs, dredges and epibenthic sleds. Within the collected image data, several strikingly hexagonal hole patterns were observed and identified as Paleodictyon nodosum , and an irregular form of Paleodictyon traces, both on undisturbed and disturbed areas of seafloor. Recent forms occur abundantly in various deep-sea regions, but their origin, and how they represent the mode of life of the forming organism, remains unknown. In this study, the imaged occurrences of Paleodictyon traces on disturbed seafloor sheds light on the lifecycle of the forming organism, demonstrating that they can recolonize disturbed habitat and produce the trace network in a few weeks. Nevertheless, the density of these patterns on disturbed substrates was lower than observed on undisturbed substrates in both nodule regions. We therefore hypothesize that, along with other benthic deep-sea fauna, these structures and the forming organism are impacted by physical seafloor disturbance, and even 26 years after disturbance, densities on disturbed sediments have not recovered to undisturbed levels.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 8
    Publication Date: 2022-01-31
    Description: Industrial interest in deep-sea mineral extraction began decades ago and today it is at an all-time high, accelerated by global demand for metals. Several seafloor ecosystem disturbance experiments were performed beginning in the 1970’s, including the DISturbance and reCOLonization experiment (DISCOL) conducted in the Peru Basin in 1989. A large seafloor disturbance was created by repeatedly plowing the seafloor over an area of ~ 10.8 km2. Though a number of studies in abyssal mining regions have evaluated megafaunal biodiversity and ecosystem responses, few have included quantitative and detailed data on fishes or scavengers despite their ecological importance as top predators. We used towed camera transects and baited camera data to evaluate the fish community at the DISCOL site. The abyssal fish community was relatively diverse with 16 taxa dominated by Ipnops meadi. Fish density was lower in ploughed habitat during the several years following disturbance but thereafter increased over time in part due to changes in regional environmental conditions. 26 years post disturbance there were no differences in overall total fish densities between reference and experimental areas, but the dominant fish, I. meadi, still exhibited much lower densities in ploughed habitat suggesting only partial fish community recovery. The scavenging community was dominated by eelpouts (Pachycara spp), hermit crabs (Probeebei mirabilis) and shrimp. The large contribution of hermit crabs appears unique amongst abyssal scavenger studies worldwide. The abyssal fish community at DISCOL was similar to that in the more northerly Clarion Clipperton Zone, though some species have only been observed at DISCOL thus far. Also, further species level identifications are required to refine this assessment. Additional studies across the polymetallic nodule provinces of the Pacific are required to further evaluate the environmental drivers of fish density and diversity and species biogeographies, which will be important for the development of appropriate management plans aimed at minimizing human impact from deep-sea mining.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed
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  • 9
    Publication Date: 2022-01-31
    Description: Sponges host a remarkable diversity of microbial symbionts, however, the benefit their microbes provide is rarely understood. Here, we describe two new sponge species from deep-sea asphalt seeps and show that they live in a nutritional symbiosis with methane-oxidizing (MOX) bacteria. Metagenomics and imaging analyses revealed unusually high amounts of MOX symbionts in hosts from a group previously assumed to have low microbial abundances. These symbionts belonged to the Marine Methylotrophic Group 2 clade. They are host-specific and likely vertically transmitted, based on their presence in sponge embryos and streamlined genomes, which lacked genes typical of related free-living MOX. Moreover, genes known to play a role in host–symbiont interactions, such as those that encode eukaryote-like proteins, were abundant and expressed. Methane assimilation by the symbionts was one of the most highly expressed metabolic pathways in the sponges. Molecular and stable carbon isotope patterns of lipids confirmed that methane-derived carbon was incorporated into the hosts. Our results revealed that two species of sponges, although distantly related, independently established highly specific, nutritional symbioses with two closely related methanotrophs. This convergence in symbiont acquisition underscores the strong selective advantage for these sponges in harboring MOX bacteria in the food-limited deep sea.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 10
    Publication Date: 2023-02-08
    Description: With the mining of polymetallic nodules from the deep-sea seafloor once more evoking commercial interest, decisions must be taken on how to most efficiently regulate and monitor physical and community disturbance in these remote ecosystems. Image-based approaches allow non-destructive assessment of the abundance of larger fauna to be derived from survey data, with repeat surveys of areas possible to allow time series data collection. At the time of writing, key underwater imaging platforms commonly used to map seafloor fauna abundances are autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and towed camera “ocean floor observation systems” (OFOSs). These systems are highly customisable, with cameras, illumination sources and deployment protocols changing rapidly, even during a survey cruise. In this study, eight image datasets were collected from a discrete area of polymetallic-nodule-rich seafloor by an AUV and several OFOSs deployed at various altitudes above the seafloor. A fauna identification catalogue was used by five annotators to estimate the abundances of 20 fauna categories from the different datasets. Results show that, for many categories of megafauna, differences in image resolution greatly influenced the estimations of fauna abundance determined by the annotators. This is an important finding for the development of future monitoring legislation for these areas. When and if commercial exploitation of these marine resources commences, robust and verifiable standards which incorporate developing technological advances in camera-based monitoring surveys should be key to developing appropriate management regulations for these regions.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed
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