Dataset Information

The submarine volcano eruption at the island of El Hierro: physical-chemical perturbation and biological response.

ABSTRACT: On October 10 2011 an underwater eruption gave rise to a novel shallow submarine volcano south of the island of El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain. During the eruption large quantities of mantle-derived gases, solutes and heat were released into the surrounding waters. In order to monitor the impact of the eruption on the marine ecosystem, periodic multidisciplinary cruises were carried out. Here, we present an initial report of the extreme physical-chemical perturbations caused by this event, comprising thermal changes, water acidification, deoxygenation and metal-enrichment, which resulted in significant alterations to the activity and composition of local plankton communities. Our findings highlight the potential role of this eruptive process as a natural ecosystem-scale experiment for the study of extreme effects of global change stressors on marine environments.

SUBMITTER: Fraile-Nuez E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3390001 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The submarine volcano eruption at the island of El Hierro: physical-chemical perturbation and biological response.

Fraile-Nuez E E González-Dávila M M Santana-Casiano J M JM Arístegui J J Alonso-González I J IJ Hernández-León S S Blanco M J MJ Rodríguez-Santana A A Hernández-Guerra A A Gelado-Caballero M D MD Eugenio F F Marcello J J de Armas D D Domínguez-Yanes J F JF Montero M F MF Laetsch D R DR Vélez-Belchí P P Ramos A A Ariza A V AV Comas-Rodríguez I I Benítez-Barrios V M VM

Scientific reports 20120705

On October 10 2011 an underwater eruption gave rise to a novel shallow submarine volcano south of the island of El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain. During the eruption large quantities of mantle-derived gases, solutes and heat were released into the surrounding waters. In order to monitor the impact of the eruption on the marine ecosystem, periodic multidisciplinary cruises were carried out. Here, we present an initial report of the extreme physical-chemical perturbations caused by this event, com ...[more]

PMID: 22768379

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Project description:The submarine volcanic eruption occurring near El Hierro (Canary Islands) in October 2011 provided a unique opportunity to determine the effects of such events on the microbial populations of the surrounding waters. The birth of a new underwater volcano produced a large plume of vent material detectable from space that led to abrupt changes in the physical-chemical properties of the water column. We combined flow cytometry and 454-pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons (V1-V3 regions for Bacteria and V3-V5 for Archaea) to monitor the area around the volcano through the eruptive and post-eruptive phases (November 2011 to April 2012). Flow cytometric analyses revealed higher abundance and relative activity (expressed as a percentage of high-nucleic acid content cells) of heterotrophic prokaryotes during the eruptive process as compared to post-eruptive stages. Changes observed in populations detectable by flow cytometry were more evident at depths closer to the volcano (~70-200 m), coinciding also with oxygen depletion. Alpha-diversity analyses revealed that species richness (Chao1 index) decreased during the eruptive phase; however, no dramatic changes in community composition were observed. The most abundant taxa during the eruptive phase were similar to those in the post-eruptive stages and to those typically prevalent in oceanic bacterioplankton communities (i.e. the alphaproteobacterial SAR11 group, the Flavobacteriia class of the Bacteroidetes and certain groups of Gammaproteobacteria). Yet, although at low abundance, we also detected the presence of taxa not typically found in bacterioplankton communities such as the Epsilonproteobacteria and members of the candidate division ZB3, particularly during the eruptive stage. These groups are often associated with deep-sea hydrothermal vents or sulfur-rich springs. Both cytometric and sequence analyses showed that once the eruption ceased, evidences of the volcano-induced changes were no longer observed.

Dataset Information

The submarine volcano eruption at the island of El Hierro: physical-chemical perturbation and biological response.

Publications

The submarine volcano eruption at the island of El Hierro: physical-chemical perturbation and biological response.

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