72 research outputs found
Intermittent bioirrigation and oxygen dynamics in permeable sediments: An experimental and modeling study of three tellinid bivalves
To explore the dynamic nature of geochemical conditions in bioirrigated marine permeable sediments, we studied the hydraulic activity of three tellinacean bivalve molluscs (the Pacific species Macoma nasuta and Macomona liliana, and the northern Atlantic and Pacific species Macoma balthica). We combined porewater pressure sensing, time-lapse photography and oxygen imaging to quantify the durations and frequencies of tellinid irrigation activity and the associated oxygen dynamics in the sediment. Porewater pressure records of all tellinids were dominated by intermittent porewater pressurization, induced by periodic water injection into the sediment through their excurrent siphons, which resulted in intermittent oxygen supply to subsurface sediments. The irrigation (two–12 minutes long) and intervals between subsequent irrigation bouts (1.5–13 minutes) varied among tellinid species and individual sizes. For large M. liliana and M. nasuta, the average intervals between irrigation bouts were sufficiently long (10 minutes and four minutes, respectively) to allow complete oxygen consumption in between irrigation bouts in all tested sediment types. Irrigation patterns of smaller conspecifics and the smaller species M. balthica were characterized by significantly shorter separation of irrigation bouts, which resulted in more continuous oxygenation of the sediment. Transport-reaction modeling confirmed these species- and size-specific geochemical signatures and indicated that the geochemical character of the sediment is largely conditioned by the interplay between temporal irrigation patterns and sedimentary oxygen consumption rates. For large tellinids, model simulations indicated that oscillatory rather than stationary geochemical conditions are prevalent in a wide range of sediment types, with oxic pockets collapsing completely between periods of active irrigation. Based on the model results we developed analytical approximations that allow estimation of spatio-temporal characteristics of sediment oxygenation for a wide range of sediment types and infaunal activity patterns. Our results emphasize the need to consider the intermittent nature of bioirrigation when studying the geochemical impact of infauna in permeable sediments
Global Carbon Cycling on a Heterogeneous Seafloor
Diverse biological communities mediate the transformation, transport, and storage of elements fundamental to life on Earth, including carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. However, global biogeochemical model outcomes can vary by orders of magnitude, compromising capacity to project realistic ecosystem responses to planetary changes, including ocean productivity and climate. Here, we compare global carbon turnover rates estimated using models grounded in biological versus geochemical theory and argue that the turnover estimates based on each perspective yield divergent outcomes. Importantly, empirical studies that include sedimentary biological activity vary less than those that ignore it. Improving the relevance of model projections and reducing uncertainty associated with the anticipated consequences of global change requires reconciliation of these perspectives, enabling better societal decisions on mitigation and adaptation.Peer reviewe
Seasonal iron fluxes and iron cycling in sandy bioirrigated sediments
Permeable sediments, which represent more than 50% of the continental shelves, have been largely neglected as a potential source of Fe in current global estimates of benthic dissolved iron (Fed) fluxes. There are open questions regarding the effects of a range of factors on Fed fluxes from these deposits, including seasonal dynamics and the role of bioirrigation. To address these gaps, we performed laboratory-based sediment incubation experiments with muddy sands during summer (21 °C) and winter (7 °C). We used bioirrigation mimics to inject overlying water into the permeable sediment with patterns resembling the bioirrigation activity of the prolific bioturbating polychaete, Clymenella torquata. Newly developed in-line Fe accumulators were used to estimate Fe fluxes with a recirculating set-up. We found high Fed fluxes from sandy sediments, especially in benthic chambers with simulated bioirrigation. In the winter fluxes reached >200 µmol Fed m-2 d-1 at the onset of irrigation and then decreased over the course of a 13-day experiment while in the summer fluxes from irrigated sediments reached >100 µmol Fed m-2 d-1 and remained high throughout a 7-day experiment. Despite different geochemical expressions of Fe-S cycling and resulting porewater Fed concentrations in winter and summer, large Fed fluxes were sustained during both seasons. Solid-phase and porewater concentration profiles showed that maximum concentrations of key constituents, including total solid-phase reactive Fe, and porewater Fed and ammonium, were located closer to the sediment water interface (SWI) in irrigated cores than in non-irrigated cores due to the upward advective transport of dissolved porewater constituents. This upward transport also facilitated Fed fluxes out of the sediments, especially during times of active pumping. Our study demonstrates the potential for large Fed fluxes from sandy sediments in both summer and winter, despite relatively low standing stocks of labile organic matter and porewater Fed. The primary driver of these high fluxes was advective porewater transport, in our study induced by the activity of infaunal organisms. These results suggest that permeable sediments, which dominate shelf regions, must be explicitly considered in global estimates of benthic Fed fluxes, and cannot be simply extrapolated from estimates based on muddy sediments
Assessing the impact of bioturbation on sedimentary isotopic records through numerical models
The disturbance of seafloor sediments by the activities of bottom-dwelling organisms, known as bioturbation, significantly alters the marine paleorecord by redistributing particles in the upper sediment layers. Consequently, ‘proxy’ signals recorded in these sediment particles, such as the size, abundance, or isotopic composition of plankton shells, are distorted by particle mixing. Accordingly, bioturbation can alter the apparent timing, duration, and magnitude of recorded events by smoothing climatic and oceanographic signals. In an extreme scenario, biological mixing can significantly obscure our view of the past by homogenizing the bioturbated layer, destroying sediment layering, and distorting the relative timing and intensity of past climatological events. Here we explore how bioturbation distorts proxy records of environmental events from a modeling perspective. First, we provide an overview and comparison of different numerical models created for simulating the movement and structural alteration of sediment by bioturbation. Next, we use an updated particle resolving model – iTURBO2 – to illustrate how various modes and intensities of bioturbation distort the signature of past climatological events, considering a range of conceptual shapes of vertical proxy profiles. Finally, we demonstrate how sampled proxy records can differ due to the combined effects of particle mixing and differential abundance changes that often concur with environmental transitions. We make the iTURBO2 MATLAB code openly available to facilitate further exploration of proxy biases due to bioturbation to aid the interpretation of the climatological record preserved in marine sediments
Recommended from our members
Research and Design of a Routing Protocol in Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks
无线传感器网络,作为全球未来十大技术之一,集成了传感器技术、嵌入式计算技术、分布式信息处理和自组织网技术,可实时感知、采集、处理、传输网络分布区域内的各种信息数据,在军事国防、生物医疗、环境监测、抢险救灾、防恐反恐、危险区域远程控制等领域具有十分广阔的应用前景。 本文研究分析了无线传感器网络的已有路由协议,并针对大规模的无线传感器网络设计了一种树状路由协议,它根据节点地址信息来形成路由,从而简化了复杂繁冗的路由表查找和维护,节省了不必要的开销,提高了路由效率,实现了快速有效的数据传输。 为支持此路由协议本文提出了一种自适应动态地址分配算——ADAR(AdaptiveDynamicAddre...As one of the ten high technologies in the future, wireless sensor network, which is the integration of micro-sensors, embedded computing, modern network and Ad Hoc technologies, can apperceive, collect, process and transmit various information data within the region. It can be used in military defense, biomedical, environmental monitoring, disaster relief, counter-terrorism, remote control of haz...学位:工学硕士院系专业:信息科学与技术学院通信工程系_通信与信息系统学号:2332007115216
Benthic ecosystem engineering: Experimental evidence on the function of the lugworm Arenicola marina
- …