Dataset Information

High-resolution observations on enrichment processes in the sea-surface microlayer.

ABSTRACT: For decades, researchers assumed that enrichment of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the sea surface microlayer (SML) is solely controlled by changes in the DOM concentration at this uppermost thin boundary layer between the ocean and the atmosphere. We conducted high-resolution observations of fluorescent-DOM (FDOM) at 13 stations in the coastal and open Atlantic Ocean to understand the enrichment processes. Results show that FDOM enrichment in the SML varied between 0.8 and 2.0 (in comparison to the concentrations in the underlying water; ULW), and FDOM enrichment is a common feature of the SML despite the varied distances to the terrestrial sources. At six stations, the FDOM concentration in the SML was less variable over the sampling period (>5?h) compared to FDOM concentrations in the ULW characterized with sudden changes. Even so we observed slightly lower enrichments with increasing wind speeds and solar radiation, changes in ULW concentrations forced the enrichment to change. In addition, we found evidences for the occurrence of photochemical degradation of FDOM in near-shore SML with implications on coastal carbon cycling. Overall, the results show that the processes leading to the enrichment of DOM in the SML are more complex than previously assumed. Given the importance of the organic-rich SML as a diffusion layer in the air-sea exchange of climate-relevant gases and heat, understanding the layer's enrichment processes is crucial.

SUBMITTER: Mustaffa NIH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6120901 | biostudies-other | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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High-resolution observations on enrichment processes in the sea-surface microlayer.

Mustaffa Nur Ili Hamizah NIH Badewien Thomas H TH Ribas-Ribas Mariana M Wurl Oliver O

Scientific reports 20180903 1

For decades, researchers assumed that enrichment of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the sea surface microlayer (SML) is solely controlled by changes in the DOM concentration at this uppermost thin boundary layer between the ocean and the atmosphere. We conducted high-resolution observations of fluorescent-DOM (FDOM) at 13 stations in the coastal and open Atlantic Ocean to understand the enrichment processes. Results show that FDOM enrichment in the SML varied between 0.8 and 2.0 (in comparison ...[more]

PMID: 30177725

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Project description:The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill led to rapid microbial community shifts in the Gulf of Mexico, including the formation of unprecedented quantities of marine oil snow (MOS) and of a massive subsurface oil plume. The major taxa that bloomed in sea surface oil slicks during the spill included Cycloclasticus, and to a lesser extent Halomonas, Alteromonas, and Pseudoalteromonas-organisms that grow and degrade oil hydrocarbons aerobically. Here, we show that sea surface oil slicks at DWH contained obligate and facultative anaerobic taxa, including members of the obligate anaerobic phylum Fusobacteria that are commonly found in marine sediment environments. Pyrosequencing analysis revealed that Fusobacteria were strongly selected for when sea surface oil slicks were allowed to develop anaerobically. These organisms have been found in oil-contaminated sediments in the Gulf of Mexico, in deep marine oil reservoirs, and other oil-contaminated sites, suggesting they have putative hydrocarbon-degrading qualities. The occurrence and strong selection for Fusobacteria in a lab-based incubation of a sea surface oil slick sample collected during the spill suggests that these organisms may have become enriched in anaerobic zones of suspended particulates, such as MOS. Whilst the formation and rapid sinking of MOS is recognised as an important mechanism by which a proportion of the Macondo oil had been transported to the sea floor, its role in potentially transporting microorganisms, including oil-degraders, from the upper reaches of the water column to the seafloor should be considered. The presence of Fusobacteria on the sea surface-a highly oxygenated environment-is intriguing, and may be explained by the vertical upsurge of oil that provided a carrier to transport these organisms from anaerobic/micro-aerophilic zones in the oil plume or seabed to the upper reaches of the water column. We also propose that the formation of rapidly-sinking MOS may have re-transported these, and other microbial taxa, to the sediment in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dataset Information

High-resolution observations on enrichment processes in the sea-surface microlayer.

Publications

High-resolution observations on enrichment processes in the sea-surface microlayer.

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