Development and deployment of a deep-sea Raman probe for measurement of pore water geochemistry

We have developed, deployed, and tested a novel probe for study of the geochemistry of sediment pore waters based upon Raman spectroscopy. The Raman technique has already been used successfully for in situ measurements of targets of scientific interest including gas and hydrothermal vents and complex gas hydrates, but sediment geochemistry has so far been an intractable problem since the sediments themselves are strongly fluorescent and typically only very small sample volumes are obtainable. The 35 cm long probe extracts pore fluids through a 10 μm sintered metallic frit and draws the sample through a 2 mm diameter channel into a sapphire windowed optical cell within which the laser beam is focused and the spectrum recorded. The dead volume of the system is ～1 ml and the instrument is ROV deployable with activation of probe insertion and sample withdrawal under direct operator control. The unique features of this mode of detection include observation of the sulfate gradient in marine pore waters as an indicator of diagenesis, direct measurement of the dissolved sulfide species H₂S and HS^?, and measurement of dissolved methane; all of which are of primary geochemical interest. Quantitative analysis is achieved by area ratio to known water peaks and from standard calibration curves with a precision of ±5%. We find only very small fluorescence from pore waters measured in situ, but observe rapid increases in fluorescence from cores returned to the surface and exposed to oxygen.     

基于ROV的近海底地形测量及其在马努斯盆地热液区的应用

针对重点的特殊深海研究区（如热液冷泉、洋中脊区域）,在船载多波束数据获得研究区大面积地形资料的基础上,有必要选取典型深海小靶区进行高分辨率地形测量为进一步深入研究提供保障。根据船载多波束实测数据选取PACMANUS热液区作为靶区,基于长基线定位,利用“发现”ROV搭载多波束系统进行近海底全覆盖地形测量。结果表明,依托于船动力定位系统及差分GPS,长基线为ROV提供了可靠的高精度定位,使得近海底测量的地形数据分辨率数倍优于船载多波束测得的地形数据的分辨率。高分辨率地形清晰的显示了PACMANUS热液区锥形丘体等特殊微地形,与已发现的热液点和火山区有很好的对应。进一步分析发现,该区域活动的热液区主要发育于坡度大于30°斜坡上的地形突变区,其成因仍需深入研究。利用ROV搭载多波束近底测量是获取深海小靶区高分辨率地形的可靠途径和方法,有利于提高深海海底研究的针对性,将促进我国深海科学研究的发展。     

声学法深海热液速度场测量重建算法研究

介绍了利用声学法测量深海热液速度场的基本原理.利用往返飞渡时间差与流场速度的关系,应用反问题求解技术重建测量区域的速度场.应用最小二乘法对两种典型的热液口速度场模型进行了仿真重建,分析了换能器数量、实验测量误差以及换能器的布放对重建结果的影响,并对重建结果进行了流量分析.仿真重建的绝对误差、相对误差以及流量分析结果表明...     

新型深海地温梯度测量设备（FY2）研发

随着海底地热学研究的不断深入,对海底地热测量仪器的技术指标提出了更高要求。基于前期自主研发的FY1自容式微型温度测量记录仪,经过大量实践数据与经验积累,研制出新型的FY2自容式微型温度测量记录仪。为验证FY2的性能,在实验室恒温水槽和南海北部陆坡深水海域对FY1和FY2进行了仪器校验和比测,结果显示FY2的测量分辨率优于0.0001 ℃,测量准确度优于±0.0015 ℃,比测点的海底热流值为78 mW/m2。实验结果证实FY2探针不仅具有高分辨率、高精度、性能稳定的特点,而且测量效率高,可为海底热流探测与研究提供新一代可靠的技术支持。     

初始缺陷对深海载人潜水器耐压球壳塑性稳定性影响

载人深潜器耐压球壳是中厚度壳结构,当结构发生失稳时,球壳结构的局部部位因为材料达到屈服极限而发生了塑性变形.将有限元分析与经典理论相结合,研究弹性屈曲模态缺陷、局部缺陷以及球壳整体圆度和厚度偏差对中厚度球壳结构的塑性稳定性的影响.计算结果表明中厚度球壳结构对初始缺陷并不很敏感,对球壳结构当局部缺陷范围刚好达到临界弧长时结构的承载力最弱.通过缺陷结构和完善结构的极限承载力比较,提供了初始缺陷影响曲线.     

A new deep-sea probe for in situ pH measurement in the environment of hydrothermal vent biological communities

In situ measurements have been shown to be the most relevant means to characterise the chemical properties of the highly dynamic medium surrounding hydrothermal vent organisms. However, few instrumental devices can perform such measurements at great depth, and there is great need to extend the range of chemical parameters that can be determined in situ. To investigate the spatial and temporal variations of pH within the habitats of vent organisms, a deep-sea probe was developed and successfully tested during the HOPE’99 diving cruise (13°N, East Pacific Rise). In situ measurements allowed us to quantify the pH range over different biological communities, highlighting differences between the habitats, as well as micro-scale variations. As pH is expected to play a significant role in major biogeochemical processes occurring in the seawater/fluid-mixing zone, this probe should be of great utility for the study of interactions between vent communities and their environment.     

Temporal and spatial variability of the bottom nepheloid layer over a deep-sea fan

Analysis of 121 in-situ nephelometer profiles recorded in the waters above Nitinat Deep-Sea Fan during three cruises between 1971 and 1974 reveals a substantial degree of correlation between fan topography and the vertical distribution of suspended particulate matter within 150 m of the sea floor. Profiles recorded above different topographic provinces may be generalized into two structural classes which have retained their characteristic features throughout the 4-year observation period: the levee type, in which a thin bottom nepheloid layer consists of a single steep scattering gradient sharply capped by the overlying clearer water; and the fan-valley type, in which a bottom nepheloid layer of variable thickness and prominent internal layering dissipates only gradually into the overlying clearer water. Although the source of the particles which form the bottom nepheloid layer has not yet been definitely identified, the multi-year stability of scattering intensity, thickness, and internal structure imply that it is maintained by some combination of continually operative processes, rather than by infusions of material from episodic events such as turbidity currents.     

First observations of jelly-falls at the seafloor in a deep-sea fjord

Faunal communities at the deep-sea floor mainly rely on the downward transport of particulate organic material for energy, which can come in many forms, ranging from phytodetritus to whale carcasses. Recently, studies have shown that the deep-sea floor may also be subsidized by fluxes of gelatinous material to the benthos. The deep-sea scyphozoan medusa Periphylla periphylla is common in many deep-sea fjords in Norway and recent investigations in Lurefjorden in western Norway suggest that the biomass of this jellyfish currently exceeds 50000 t here. To quantify the presence of dead P. periphylla jellyfish falls (hereafter termed jelly-falls) at the deep seafloor and the standing stock of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) deposited on the seafloor by this species, we made photographic transects of the seafloor, using a ‘Yo-Yo’ camera system during an opportunistic sampling campaign in March 2011. Of 218 seafloor photographs taken, jelly-falls were present in five, which resulted in a total jelly-fall abundance of 1×10^-2 jelly-falls m⁻² over the entire area surveyed. Summed over the entire area of seafloor photographed, 1×10^-2 jelly-falls m⁻² was equivalent to a C- and N-biomass of 13 mg C m⁻² and 2 mg N m⁻². The contribution of each jelly-fall to the C- and N-amount of the sediment in the immediate vicinity of each fall (i.e. to sediment in each 3.02 m² image in which jelly-falls were observed) was estimated to be 568±84 mg C m⁻² and 88±13 mg N m⁻². The only megafaunal taxon observed around or on top of the jelly-falls was caridean shrimp (14±5 individuals jelly-fall⁻¹), and shrimp abundance was significantly greater in photographs in which a jelly-fall was found (14±5 individuals image⁻¹) compared to photographs in which no jelly-falls were observed (1.4±0.7 individuals image⁻¹). These observations indicate that jelly-falls in this fjord can enhance the sedimentary C- and N-amount at the deep-sea floor and may provide nutrition to benthic and demersal faunas in this environment. However, organic enrichment from the jelly-falls found in this single sampling event and associated disturbance was highly localized.     

Consumption of bacteria by larvae of a deep-sea polychaete

We investigated whether trochophore larvae of the polychaete Hesiocaeca methanicola, which lives on exposed ice‐like methane hydrates between 500 and 600 m, could consume near‐bottom picoplankton. In laboratory trials larvae significantly reduced the growth rates of all types of picoplankton, including heterotrophic bacteria, Prochlorococcus sp., Synechococcus‐type cyanobacteria and phototrophic eucaryotes <3 μm. Our findings suggest that these types of plankton may be important food sources for deep‐sea planktotrophic larvae.     

Energy dispersive X-ray analysis of the surface of a deep-sea ferromanganese nodule

In an effort to elucidate the mechanism of formation and accretion of ferromanganese nodules, transverse sections of undisturbed botryoid surfaces of nodules from the abyssal central North Pacific were examined by X-ray analyses both by multiple replicate sample transects and mapping. Surface concentrations of Mn and Fe were found of the size and shape of microorganisms. Abundant microorganism-like objects covering the surface and the apparent absence of Si (i.e. no sediment) with the Mn and Fe concentrations suggests microorganisms may be involved either in the selective accretion or removal of these metals. If metal accretion was simply physicochemical, one would expect a more or less even distribution of Mn and Fe on the botryoid surfaces.The replicate X-ray sample transects showed that Mn and Fe have a distribution corresponding to botryoid zonation. Areas of high Mn X-ray intensity were found associated with the cap and equatorial zones of the botryoid. Most of the valley zone of the botryoid show a more or less even Mn distribution and an increase in Fe X-ray intensity. At the base of the botryoid both metals apparently precipitously decrease.     

Improvement of deep-sea dredging operations through the use of a depth meter

A battery-operated depth meter mounted inside the dredge is used to monitor the time-depth profile of a dredge haul. By comparing is profile with the water depth recorded by the ship's echosounder, the locations at which dredge samples were collected can be determined. The analysis of the time-depth profile can also be used to estimate the minimum length of the dredge wire, thus increasing the efficiency of dredging operations.     

Petrographic and magnetic properties of tephra in a deep-sea core from the northwest Pacific

All the tephra layers sampled from a core in the northwest Pacific have both ortho-and clinopyroxenes as essential minerals, most of them containing hornblende and some of them biotite, zircon, apatite and olivine. Refractive indices of volcanic glass shards range between 1.49 and 1.53. Comparison of the refractive indices with those of artificial glass beads as well as the mineralogical composition of the tephra suggest that its sources are possibly acidic volcanoes in the Japanese island arc. Magnetic and crystallographic features of the ferromagnetic constituents in tephra have also shown that the tephra originated not from oceanic basalt but from acidic volcanoes.     

Sustainability of deep-sea fisheries

As coastal fisheries around the world have collapsed, industrial fishing has spread seaward and deeper in pursuit of the last economically attractive concentrations of fishable biomass. For a seafood-hungry world depending on the oceans' ecosystem services, it is crucial to know whether deep-sea fisheries can be sustainable.The deep sea is by far the largest but least productive part of the oceans, although in very limited places fish biomass can be very high. Most deep-sea fishes have life histories giving them far less population resilience/productivity than shallow-water fishes, and could be fished sustainably only at very low catch rates if population resilience were the sole consideration. But like old-growth trees and great whales, their biomass makes them tempting targets while their low productivity creates strong economic incentive to liquidate their populations rather than exploiting them sustainably (Clark's Law). Many deep-sea fisheries use bottom trawls, which often have high impacts on nontarget fishes (e.g., sharks) and invertebrates (e.g., corals), and can often proceed only because they receive massive government subsidies. The combination of very low target population productivity, nonselective fishing gear, economics that favor population liquidation and a very weak regulatory regime makes deep-sea fisheries unsustainable with very few exceptions. Rather, deep-sea fisheries more closely resemble mining operations that serially eliminate fishable populations and move on.Instead of mining fish from the least-suitable places on Earth, an ecologically and economically preferable strategy would be rebuilding and sustainably fishing resilient populations in the most suitable places, namely shallower and more productive marine ecosystems that are closer to markets.     

Trophic relationships along a bathymetric gradient at the deep-sea observatory HAUSGARTEN

Deep-seafloor communities, especially those from the ice-covered Arctic, are subject to severe food limitation as the amount of particulate organic matter (POM) from the surface is attenuated with increasing depth. Here, we use naturally occurring stable isotope tracers (δ¹⁵N) to broaden our rudimentary knowledge of food web structure and the response of benthic organisms to decreasing food supplies along the bathymetric transect (～1300–5600 m water depth) of the deep-sea observatory HAUSGARTEN. Encompassing five trophic levels, the HAUSGARTEN food web is among the longest indicating continuous recycling of organic material typical of food-limited deep-sea ecosystems. The δ¹⁵N signatures ranged from 3.0‰ for Foraminifera to 21.4‰ (±0.4) for starfish (Poraniomorpha tumida). The majority of organisms occupied the second and third trophic level. Demersal fish fed at the third trophic level, consistent with results from stomach contents analysis. There were significant differences in the δ¹⁵N signatures of different functional groups with highest δ¹⁵N values in predators/scavengers (13.2±0.2‰) followed by suspension feeders (11.2±0.2‰) and deposit feeders (10.2±0.3‰). Depth (=increasing food limitation) affected functional groups in different ways. While the isotopic signatures of predators/scavengers did not change, those of suspension feeders increased with depth, and the reverse was found for deposit feeders. In contrast to the results of other studies, the δ¹⁵N signatures in POM samples obtained below 800 m did not vary significantly with depth indicating that changes in δ¹⁵N values are unlikely to be responsible for the depth-related δ¹⁵N signature changes observed for benthic consumers. However, the δ¹⁵N signatures of sediments decreased with increasing depth, which also explains the decrease found for deposit feeders. Suspension feeders may rely increasingly on particles trickling down the HAUSGARTEN slope and carrying higher δ¹⁵N signatures than the decreasing POM supplies, which elevates the δ¹⁵N value of their tissues. Our results imply that a depth-stratified approach should be taken to avoid a misinterpretation of data obtained at different depths.     

深海高温淀粉普鲁兰酶异源表达及酶活分析

深海热液口厌氧古菌Thermococcus siculi HJ21中的高温淀粉普鲁兰酶进行分子进化树系分析,并在大肠杆菌中通过pMal-c2x载体表达并纯化其N端催化结构域.通过融合表达,在N端催化结构域的N端融合有麦芽糖结合蛋白MalE.对该融合蛋白的α-淀粉酶和普鲁兰酶活性进行了实验分析.融合蛋白的两种酶活的最适温...     

一种新型潜浮式深海地震仪的设计与试验

鉴于国内外海洋地震台网的缺乏, 本文介绍了一种面向全球海域应用的漂浮式海底地震接收系统(mobile earthquake recording in marine areas by independent divers, MERMAID)。针对潜浮式地震仪MERMAID浮标的研发过程, 建立了浮标的总体设计要求与典型工作循环流程, 设计了液压式浮力调节系统、机械结构等, 并对比分析了不同转速及负浮力下潜过程, 最后进行了实验室压力检测和千岛湖湖试。试验结果表明, 该浮标能在15MPa压力下保持良好的密封性与稳定性, 利用水听器可以有效地采集到天然地震纵波(P波), 同时计算各模块单个周期的能耗, 以验证设计指标。     

Extensive deep-sea dispersal of postlarval shrimp from a hydrothermal vent

Hydrothermal vent fields on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) are small (no more than 0.1-1.0 km²) and widely spaced (a reported average of one field per 175 km between 11°N and 40°N). Their faunas are similar and usually dominated by shrimp of the family Bresiliidae. Little is known about the way these animals (and other members of the vent fauna) disperse and colonize new vents. Vent shrimp juveniles have been taken close to certain vent sites, and in midwater, but their larvae and postlarvae have not been captured. We report here that bresiliid shrimp postlarvae are very widely dispersed around the Broken Spur vent field and extend into the next MAR segment and the Atlantis Fracture Zone beyond. The populations show density gradients declining both vertically and horizontally from the vent site, in contrast to the overall pelagic biomass. This is the furthest recorded dispersal (> 100 km) of identified larvae from a hydrothermal vent and is sufficient to give them access to adjacent vent fields and thus the scope for colonising new sites.     

Food web flows through a sub-arctic deep-sea benthic community

The benthic food web of the deep Faroe–Shetland Channel (FSC) was modelled by using the linear inverse modelling methodology. The reconstruction of carbon pathways by inverse analysis was based on benthic oxygen uptake rates, biomass data and transfer of labile carbon through the food web as revealed by a pulse-chase experiment. Carbon deposition was estimated at 2.2 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹. Approximately 69% of the deposited carbon was respired by the benthic community with bacteria being responsible for 70% of the total respiration. The major fraction of the labile detritus flux was recycled within the microbial loop leaving merely 2% of the deposited labile phytodetritus available for metazoan consumption. Bacteria assimilated carbon at high efficiency (0.55) but only 24% of bacterial production was grazed by metazoans; the remaining returned to the dissolved organic matter pool due to viral lysis. Refractory detritus was the basal food resource for nematodes covering ∼99% of their carbon requirements. On the contrary, macrofauna seemed to obtain the major part of their metabolic needs from bacteria (49% of macrofaunal consumption). Labile detritus transfer was well-constrained, based on the data from the pulse-chase experiment, but appeared to be of limited importance to the diet of the examined benthic organisms (<1% and 5% of carbon requirements of nematodes and macrofauna respectively). Predation on nematodes was generally low with the exception of sub-surface deposit-feeding polychaetes that obtained 35% of their energy requirements from nematode ingestion. Carnivorous polychaetes also covered 35% of their carbon demand through predation although the preferred prey, in this case, was other macrofaunal animals rather than nematodes. Bacteria and detritus contributed 53% and 12% to the total carbon ingestion of carnivorous polychaetes suggesting a high degree of omnivory among higher consumers in the FSC benthic food web. Overall, this study provided a unique insight into the functioning of a deep-sea benthic community and demonstrated how conventional data can be exploited further when combined with state-of-the-art modelling approaches.     

Ecology of deep-sea meiobenthos in the western Pacific

I am deeply honored to have been awarded the 1988 Okada Prize of the Oceanographical Society of Japan. The present paper reviews my previous works regarding the ecology of deep-sea meiobenthos in the western Pacific area. The outline cen be summarized as follows: