A new study could change the way scientists view microbial processes in the deep ocean. The unexpected findings expand our understanding of the impacts of climate change, including how and where the ocean stores carbon.
No sunlight reaches this region 200 to 1,000 meters below the sea surface, where levels of iron, a key micronutrient, are so low that the growth of bacteria is restricted. To compensate, these bacteria produce molecules called siderophores, which help the bacteria scavenge trace amounts of iron from the surrounding seawater.
To conduct the study, researchers collected water samples from the upper 1,000 meters of the water column during an expedition through the eastern Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Tahiti. What they found in the samples surprised them.
The study of siderophores is still in the early stages. Researchers involved in GEOTRACES only recently developed reliable methods to measure these molecules in water samples, and they're still working to understand where and when microbes use siderophores to acquire iron. Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation. The U.S. portion of GEOTRACES is provided by the National Science Foundation.Jingxuan Li, Lydia Babcock-Adams, Rene M. Boiteau, Matthew R. McIlvin, Lauren E. Manck, Matthias Sieber, Nathan T. Lanning, Randelle M. Bundy, Xiaopeng Bian, Iulia-Mădălina Ștreangă, Benjamin N. Granzow, Matthew J. Church, Jessica N. Fitzsimmons, Seth G. John, Tim M. Conway, Daniel J. Repeta.
Fish Sea Life Bacteria Oceanography Global Warming Geography Earth Science
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