Hostname: page-component-788cddb947-m6qld Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-11T18:15:00.305Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seasonal deposition of phytodetritus to the deep-sea floor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

A. L. Rice ,
D. S. M. Billett ,
J. Fry ,
A. W. G. John ,
R. S. Lampitt ,
R. F. C. Mantoura  and
R. J. Morris
A. L. Rice
Affiliation:
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Brook Road, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5UB, U.K.
D. S. M. Billett
Affiliation:
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Brook Road, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5UB, U.K.
J. Fry
Affiliation:
University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 13, Cardiff CF1 3XF, Wales
A. W. G. John
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth, Devon, U.K.
R. S. Lampitt
Affiliation:
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Brook Road, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5UB, U.K.
R. F. C. Mantoura
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth, Devon, U.K.
R. J. Morris
Affiliation:
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Brook Road, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5UB, U.K.
Get access

Synopsis

Evidence has accumulated over the past twenty years to suggest that the deep-sea environment is not as constant as was at one time thought, but exhibits temporal variations related to the seasonally in the overlying surface waters. Recent results from deep-moored sediment traps suggest that this coupling is mediated through the sedimentation of organic material, while observations in the Porcupine Seabight indicate that in this region, at least, there is a major and rapid seasonal deposition of aggregated phytodetritus to the sea-floor at slope and abyssal depths.

This paper summarises the results of the Porcupine Seabight studies over the past five years or so, using time-lapse sea-bed photography and microscopic, microbiological and chemical analyses of samples of phytodetritus and of the underlying sediment. The data are to some extent equivocal, but they suggest that the seasonal deposition is a regular and dramatic phenomenon and that the material undergoes relatively little degradation during its passage through the water column. The mechanisms leading to the aggregation of the phytodetritus have not been identified, and it is not yet known whether the phenomenon is geographically widespread nor whether it is of significance to the deep-living mid-water and benthic communities.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 88: The Oceanography of the Rockall Channel , 1986 , pp. 265 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agassiz, A. 1888. Three cruises of the Blake. Vol.1. Boston: Houghton, Miffin and Co.Google Scholar
Alldredge, A. L. 1972. Abandoned larvacean houses: a unique food source in the pelagic environment. Science, N. Y. 177, 885–887.Google Scholar
Alldredge, A. L. 1976. Discarded appendicularian houses as sources of food, surface habitats, and paniculate organic matter in planktonic environments. Limnology and Oceanography 21, 14–23.Google Scholar
Alldredge, A. L. 1984. Macroscopic organic aggregates (marine snow). In Global Ocean Flux Study. Proceedings of a workshop, September 10–14, 1984, National Academy of Sciences, Woods Hole, Mass. pp. 166–179. Washington: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Angel, M. V. 1984. Detrital organic fluxes through pelagic ecosystems. In Flows of Energy and Materials in Marine Ecosystems: Theory and Practice, ed. Fasham, M. J. R., pp. 475–516. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Bacon, M. P., Huh, C, Fleer, A. P. & Deuser, W. G. 1985. Seasonality in the flux of natural radionuclides and plutonium in the deep Sargasso Sea. Deep-Sea Research 32, 273–286.Google Scholar
Barnett, P. R. O., Watson, J. & Connelly, D. 1984. A multiple corer for taking virtually undisturbed samples from shelf, bathyal and abyssal sediments. Oceanologica Ada 7, 399–408.Google Scholar
Bienfang, P. K., Harrison, P. J. & Quarmby, L. M. 1982. Sinking rate response to depletion of nitrate, phosphate and silicate in four marine diatoms. Marine Biology 62, 295–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billett, D. S. M., Lampitt, R. S., Rice, A. L. & Mantoura, R. F. C. 1983. Seasonal sedimentation of phytoplankton to the deep-sea benthos. Nature, London 302, 520–522.Google Scholar
Calvert, S. E. 1966. Origin of diatom-rich, varved sediments from the Gulf of California. Journal of Geology 74, 546–565.Google Scholar
Caron, D. A., Davis, P. G., Madin, L. P. & Sieburth, J. M. 1982. Heterotrophic bacteria and bacterivorous Protozoa in oceanic macroaggregates. Science, N.Y. 218, 795–797.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chun, C. 1887. Die pelagische Thierwelt in grosseren Meerestiefen und ihre Beziehungen zu der Oberflachenfauna. Bibliotheca Zoologica, No. 1. Cassel: Theodor Fischer.Google Scholar
Dale, N. G. 1974. Bacteria in intertidal sediments: factors related to their distribution. Limnology and Oceanography 19, 509–518.Google Scholar
Degens, E. & Ross, D. [eds.] 1974. The Black Sea. Geology, Chemistry and Biology. Tulsa, Oklahoma: American Association of Petroleum Geology, Mem. 20.Google Scholar
Deming, J. W. & Colwell, R. R. 1982. Barophilic bacteria associated with digestive tracts of abyssal holothurians. Applied Environmental Microbiology 44, 1222–1230.Google Scholar
Deuser, W. G. & Ross, E. H. 1980. Seasonal change in the flux of organic carbon to the deep Sargasso Sea. Nature, London 283, 364–365.Google Scholar
Deuser, W. G., Ross, E. H. & Anderson, R. F. 1981. Seasonality in the supply of sediment to the deep Sargasso Sea and implications for the rapid transfer of matter to the deep oceans. Deep-Sea Research 28A, 495–505.Google Scholar
Fallon, R. D., Newell, S. Y. & Hopkinson, C. S. 1983. Bacterial production in marine sediments: will cell specific measures agree with whole-system metabolism? Marine Ecology—Progress Series 11, 119–127.Google Scholar
Fry, J. C. & Davies, A. R. 1985. An assessment of methods of measuring volumes of planktonic bacteria with particular reference to television image analysis. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 58, 105–122.Google Scholar
Gabriel, K. R. 1964. A procedure for testing the homogeneity of all sets of means in analysis of variance. Biometrics 20, 459—477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilmer, R. W. 1972. Free-floating mucus webs: a novel feeding adaptation for the open ocean. Science, N.Y. 176, 1239–1240.Google Scholar
Gran, H. H. 1912. Pelagic plant life. In The Depths of the Ocean, eds. Murray, J. & Hjort, J., pp. 307–386. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hanson, R. B., Shafer, C. C, Ryan, T., Pope, D. H. & Lowery, H. K. 1983. Bacterioplankton in Antarctic ocean waters during late austral winter; abundance, frequency of dividing cells and estimates of production. Applied Environmental Microbiology 45, 1622–1632.Google Scholar
Harvey, H. R., Richardson, M. D. & Patton, J. S. 1984. Lipid composition and the vertical distribution of bacteria and meiofauna in aerobic sediments of the Venezuela Basin. Deep-Sea Research 31, 403–413.Google Scholar
Hedges, J. I. & Stern, J. H. 1984. Carbon and nitrogen determinations of carbonate-containing solids. Limnology and Oceanography 29, 657–663.Google Scholar
Honjo, S. 1982. Seasonality and interaction of biogenic and lithogenic particulate flux at the Panama Basin. Science, N. Y. 218, 883–884.Google Scholar
Honjo, S. 1984. Study of ocean fluxes in time and space by bottom-tethered sediment trap arrays: a recommendation. In Global Ocean Flux Study. Proceedings of a Workshop, September 10–14, 1984, National Academy of Sciences, Woods Hole, Mass., pp. 306–324. Washington: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Jeffreys, J. G. 1869. The deep-sea dredging expedition in H.M.S. “Porcupine”. Nature, London 1, 135–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joint, I. R. & Morris, R. J. 1982. The role of bacteria in the turnover of organic matter in the sea. Oceanography and Marine Biology: Annual Review 20, 65–118.Google Scholar
Jørgenson, C. B. 1976. August Pütter, August Krogh, and modern ideas on the use of dissolved organic matter in aquatic environments. Biological Reviews 51, 291–328.Google Scholar
Knauer, G. A. & Martin, J. H. 1981. Primary production and carbon-nitrogen fluxes in the upper 1500 m of the northeast Pacific. Limnology and Oceanography 26, 181–186.Google Scholar
Lampitt, R. S. 1985. Evidence for the seasonal deposition of detritus to the deep-sea floor and its subsequent resuspension. Deep-Sea Research 32, 885–897.Google Scholar
Lampitt, R. S. & Burnham, M. P. 1983. A free-fall time-lapse camera and current meter system “Bathysnap” with notes on the foraging behaviour of a bathyal decapod shrimp. Deep-Sea Research 30, 1009–1017.Google Scholar
Madin, L. P. 1982. Production, composition and sedimentation of salp fecal pellets in oceanic waters. Marine Biology 67, 39–45.Google Scholar
Mantoura, R. F. C. & Llewellyn, C. A. 1983. The rapid determination of algal chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments and their breakdown products in natural water by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Analytica Chimica Ada 151, 297–314.Google Scholar
McCave, I. N. 1975. Vertical flux of particles in the ocean. Deep-Sea Research 22, 491–502.Google Scholar
Menzel, D. W. 1967. Particulate organic carbon in the deep-sea. Deep-Sea Research 14, 229–238.Google Scholar
Menzel, D. W. 1974. Primary productivity, dissolved and particulate organic matter, and the sites of oxidation of organic matter. In The Sea, Vol.5, ed. Goldberg, E., pp. 659–678. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Menzel, D. W. & Ryther, J.H. 1968. Organic carbon and the oxygen minimum in the South Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research 15, 327–337.Google Scholar
Meyer-Reil, L.-A. 1983. Bacterial biomass and heterotrophic activity in sediments and overlying waters. In Heterotrophy in the Sea, eds. Hobbie, J. E. and Williams, P. J. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Morris, R. J. 1984. The endemic faunae of Lake Baikal: their general biochemistry and detailed lipid composition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 222B, 51–78.Google Scholar
Morris, R. J., McCartney, M. J. & Robinson, G. A. 1983. Studies of a spring phytoplankton bloom in an enclosed experimental ecosystem. I. Biochemical changes in relation to the nutrient chemistry of water. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 70, 249–262.Google Scholar
Newell, S. Y. & Fallon, R. D. 1982. Bacterial productivity in the water column and sediments of the Georgia (USA) coastal zone: estimates via direct counting and parallel measurements of thymidine incorporation. Microbial Ecology 8, 33–46.Google Scholar
Paerl, H. W. 1973. Detritus in Lake Tahoe: structural modification by attached microflora. Science, N.Y. 180, 496–498.Google Scholar
Paerl, H. W. 1974. Bacterial uptake of dissolved organic matter in relation to detrital aggregation in marine and freshwater systems. Limnology and Oceanography 19, 966—972.Google Scholar
Petersen, C. G. J. & Jensen, P. B. 1911. Valuation of the sea. I. Animal life of the sea bottom, its food and quantity. Report. Danish Biological Station 20, 1–76.Google Scholar
Pomeroy, L. R. & Deibel, D. 1980. Aggregation of organic matter by pelagic tunicates. Limnology and Oceanography 25, 643–652.Google Scholar
Riley, G. A. 1970. Particulate organic matter in sea water. Advances in Marine Biology 8, 1–118.Google Scholar
Rowe, G. T. & Staresinic, N. 1979. Sources of organic matter to the deep-sea benthos. Ambio Special Report 6, 19–23.Google Scholar
Rublee, P. & Dornseif, B. E. 1978. Direct counts of bacteria in the sediments of a North Carolina salt marsh. Estuaries 1, 188—191.Google Scholar
Silver, M. W. & Alldredge, A. L. 1981. Bathypelagic marine snow: deep-sea algal and detrital community. Journal of Marine Research 39, 501–530.Google Scholar
Small, L. F., Fowler, S. W., Moore, S. A. & LaRosa, J. 1983. Dissolved and fecal pellet carbon and nitrogen release by zooplankton in tropical waters. Deep-Sea Research 30, 1199–1220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smayda, T. J. 1970. The suspension and sinking of phytoplankton in the sea. Oceanography and Marine Biology: Annual Review 8, 353—414.Google Scholar
Smetacek, V. 1984. The supply of food to the benthos. In Flows of Energy and Materials in Marine Ecosystems: Theory and Practice, ed. Fasham, M. J. R., pp. 517–547. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Smetacek, V. S. 1985. Role of sinking in diatom life-history cycles: ecological, evolutionary and geological significance. Marine Biology 84, 239–251.Google Scholar
Smith, D. J., Eglinton, G. & Morris, R. J. 1983. The lipid chemistry of an interfacial sediment from the Peru Continental Shelf: fatty acids, alcohols, aliphatic ketones and hydrocarbons. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Ada 47, 2225–2232.Google Scholar
Smith, K. L. & Baldwin, R. J. 1984. Seasonal fluctuations in deep-sea sediment community oxygen consumption: central and eastern North Pacific. Nature, London 307, 624–626.Google Scholar
Sorokin, Y. I. 1970. Population, activity and production of bacteria in bottom sediments of the central Pacific. Oceanology 10, 853–863.Google Scholar
Sutherland, H. E., Calvert, S. E. & Morris, R. J. 1984. Geochemical studies of the recent sapropels and associated sediment from the Hellenic Outer Ridge, Eastern Mediterranean Sea. I. Mineralogy and chemical composition. Marine Geology 56, 79–92.Google Scholar
Tabor, P. S., Deming, J. W., Ohwada, K. & Colwell, R. R. 1982. Activity and growth of microbial populations in pressurized deep-sea sediment and animal gut samples. Applied Environmental Microbiology 44, 413–422.Google Scholar
Thomson, C. Wyville 1873. The Depths of the Sea. An account of the general results of the dredging cruises of H.M.S. Porcupine and Lightning during the summers of 1868, 1869, and 1870, under the scientific direction of Dr Carpenter, F.R.S., J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., and Dr Wyville Thomson, F.R.S. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Turekian, K. K., Cochran, J. K., Kharkar, D. P., Cerrato, R. M., Vaisnys, J. R., Sanders, H. L., Grassle, J'. F. & Allen, J. A. 1975. Low growth rate of a deep-sea clam determined by 228Ra chronology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 72, 2829–2832.Google Scholar
Tyler, P. A., Grant, A., Pain, S. L. & Gage, J. D. 1982. Is annual reproduction in deep-sea echinoderms a response to variability in their environment? Nature, London 300, 747–750.Google Scholar
Vinogradov, M. E. 1953. The role of vertical migration of the zooplankton in the feeding of deep sea animals. Priroda, Moskva 6, 95–96.Google Scholar
Vinogradov, M. E. 1962. Feeding of the deep-sea zooplankton. Rapport et Procès-Verbaux Conseil Permanent International pour l'Exploration de la Mer 153, 114–120.Google Scholar
Wallich, G. C. 1862. The North Atlantic Sea Bed: comprising a diary of the voyage on board H.M.S. Bulldog, in 1860; and observations on the presence of animal life, and the formation and nature of organic deposits, at great depths in the ocean. London: Van Voorst.Google Scholar
Weliky, K., Suess, E., Ungerer, C. A., Miiller, P. J. & Fischer, K. 1983. Problems with accurate carbon measurements in marine sediments and particulate matter in seawater: a new approach.Limnology and Oceanography 28, 1252–1259.Google Scholar
Welschmeyer, N. A., Copping, A. E., Vernet, M. & Lorenzen, C. J. 1984. Diel fluctuation in zooplankton grazing rate as determined from the downward vertical flux of pheopigments. Marine Biology 83, 263–270.Google Scholar