scholarly journals Inland blue holes of The Bahamas – chemistry and biology in a unique aquatic environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 194 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-106
Author(s):  
Caroline Björnerås ◽  
Martin Škerlep ◽  
Raphael Gollnisch ◽  
Simon David Herzog ◽  
Gustaf Ekelund Ugge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Chemistry ◽  
Zooplankton Community ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Saline Groundwater ◽  
Reducing Conditions ◽  
Andros Island ◽  
Gobiomorus Dormitor ◽  
Lake Systems ◽  
Replicated Systems ◽  
Blue Holes

While lake systems in temperate regions have been extensively studied, tropical and subtropical systems have received less attention. Here, we describe the water chemistry and biota of ten inland blue holes on Andros Island, The Bahamas, representative of the morphological, abiotic, and biotic variation among Androsian inland blue holes. The majority of the studied blue holes were vertically stratified with oxic freshwater overlying anoxic saline groundwater of marine origin. Water chemistry (e.g.total phosphorus and nitrogen) in shallow waters was similar among blue holes, while turbidity and water color varied. Presence of hydrogen sulfide and reduced iron in and below the halocline indicate reducing conditions in all stratified blue holes. The biota above the halocline was also similar among blue holes with a few taxa dominating the phytoplankton community, and the zooplankton community consisting of copepods and rotifers. The Bahamas mosquitofish (Gambusia hubbsi) was present in all investigated blue holes, often accompanied by other small planktivorous fish, while the piscivorous bigmouth sleeper (Gobiomorus dormitor) was only present in some of the blue holes. Our field study reinforces that inland blue holes are highly interesting for biogeochemical research, and provide naturally replicated systems for evolu- tionary studies.

Long-term directional trajectories among lake crustacean zooplankton communities and water chemistry

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (11) ◽  
pp. 1926-1939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl A. Lamothe ◽  
Donald A. Jackson ◽  
Keith M. Somers
Keyword(s):  
Water Chemistry ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Zooplankton Community ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Crustacean Zooplankton ◽  
Acidified Lakes ◽  
Experimental Acidification ◽  
Zooplankton Communities ◽  
Lake Systems

Understanding community responses to disturbance is a long-standing challenge in ecology and will remain a critical issue as human activity continues to alter environmental conditions. This is particularly concerning for freshwater communities, which are often subject to the effects of multiple disturbances on the landscape. With crustacean zooplankton community composition data and associated water chemistry from 19 Ontario lakes, we quantify the relative magnitude and directionality of change over three decades using distances in multivariate ordinations. The data span a gradient of impact from minimally disturbed reference lakes to lakes with known impacts from experimental acidification trials, atmospheric acidification, and regional land-use changes. Most communities exhibited changes from historical conditions, including previously described reference systems. Zooplankton communities in experimentally acidified lakes showed gradual, directional patterns with a return to historical conditions postmanipulation, but have since deviated again from historical conditions. Most zooplankton communities in atmospherically acidified lakes showed gradual, directional trajectories over time. Overall, our results demonstrate that zooplankton communities are changing among both minimally disturbed lake systems and lakes known to be impacted by human activities.

scholarly journals Novel microbiome dominated by Arcobacter during anoxic excurrent flow from an ocean blue hole in Andros Island, The Bahamas

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256305
Author(s):  
Deborah D. Iwanowicz ◽  
Robert B. Jonas ◽  
William B. Schill ◽  
Kay Marano-Briggs
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Deep Penetration ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Turbid Water ◽  
Microbial Composition ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Tidal Forces ◽  
Andros Island ◽  
Blue Holes

Andros Island, The Bahamas, composed of porous carbonate rock, has about 175 inland blue holes and over 50 known submerged ocean caves along its eastern barrier reef. These ocean blue holes can have both vertical and horizontal zones that penetrate under the island. Tidal forces drive water flow in and out of these caves. King Kong Cavern has a vertical collapse zone and a deep penetration under Andros Island that emits sulfidic, anoxic water and masses of thin, mucoid filaments ranging to meters in length and off-white turbid water during ebb flow. Our objective was to determine the microbial composition of this mucoid material and the unconsolidated water column turbidity based on the concept that they represent unique lithoautotrophic microbial material swept from the cave into the surrounding ocean. Bacterial DNA extracted from these filaments and surrounding turbid water was characterized using PCR that targeted a portion of the 16S rRNA gene. The genus Arcobacter dominated both the filaments and the water column above the cave entrance. Arcobacter nitrofigilis and Arcobacter sp. UDC415 in the mucoid filaments accounted for as much as 80% of mapped DNA reads. In the water column Arcobacter comprised from 65% to over 85% of the reads in the depth region from about 18 m to 34 m. Bacterial species diversity was much higher in surface water and in water deeper than 36 m than in the intermediate zone. Community composition indicates that ebb flow from the cavern influences the entire water column at least to within 6 m of the surface and perhaps the near surface as well.

scholarly journals Hydrogeochemical Study on Closed-Basin Lakes in Cold and Semi-Arid Climates of the Valley of the Gobi Lakes, Mongolia: Implications for Hydrology and Water Chemistry of Paleolakes on Mars

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 792
Author(s):  
Yasuhito Sekine ◽  
Takuma Kitajima ◽  
Keisuke Fukushi ◽  
Baasansuren Gankhurel ◽  
Solongo Tsetsgee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Chemistry ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Groundwater Seepage ◽  
Closed Basin ◽  
Lacustrine Carbonates ◽  
Early Mars ◽  
Lake Systems ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Regional Groundwater

Previous studies suggested that, generally, the climate of early Mars would have been semi-arid when the surface temperatures were above freezing. On early Mars, closed-basin lakes would have been created; however, the hydrogeochemical cycles of the lake systems are poorly constrained. Here we report results of our field surveys to terrestrial analogs of closed-basin lake systems that developed in cold and semi-arid climates: The Valley of the Gobi Lakes of Mongolia. Our results show that groundwater plays a central role not only in hydrology, but also in geochemical cycles in the lake systems. We find that groundwater predominantly flows into the lakes through local seepage and regional flows in semi-arid climates. Through the interactions with calcite-containing soils, local groundwater seepage provides Ca2+ and HCO3− to the lakes. In the wetland located in between the lakes, high-salinity shallow pools would provide Cl− and Na+ to the groundwater through infiltration. If similar processes occurred on early Mars, local seepage of groundwater would have provided magnesium and alkalinity to the early Jezero lakes, possibly leading to authigenic precipitation of lacustrine carbonates. On early Mars, infiltration of surface brine may have transported salts and oxidants on the surface to lakes via regional groundwater flows. We suggest that inflows of multiple types of groundwater in semi-arid climates could have caused redox disequilibria in closed-basin lakes on early Mars.

STREPSIPTERA OF SOUTH FLORIDA AND THE BAHAMAS WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW GENUS AND NEW SPECIES OF CORIOXENIDAE

1994 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeyaraney Kathirithamby ◽  
Stewart B. Peck
Keyword(s):  
West Indies ◽  
New Record ◽  
New Genus ◽  
The United States ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
The West ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Andros Island ◽  
First Time

AbstractEight species of Strepsiptera have been reported so far from Florida, but none from the Bahamas. This study reports five species from southern subtropical Florida, and one species from Andros Island, the Bahamas. Of these, Floridoxenos monroensis gen.nov., sp.nov. Kathirithamby and Peck (Corioxenidae: Corioxeninae) is described and added to the subfamily Corioxeninae based on the 4-segmented tarsi without claws; Strichotrema beckeri (Oliveira and Kogan) (Myrmecolacidae) of Brazil is reported from the United States for the first time; a second record for Elenchus koebelei Pierce (Elenchidae) from Florida is reported; and Caenocholax fenyesi Pierce (Myrmecolacidae) is a new record for Bahamas. This latter species is generally a widespread parasite of fire ants in the southern parts of North America, in the West Indies, and in the northern Neotropics.

scholarly journals Unique Habitat for Benthic Foraminifera in Subtidal Blue Holes on Carbonate Platforms

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawna N. Little ◽  
Peter J. van Hengstum ◽  
Patricia A. Beddows ◽  
Jeffrey P. Donnelly ◽  
Tyler S. Winkler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Tidal Flats ◽  
Benthic Habitat ◽  
Carbonate Platforms ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Blue Hole ◽  
Hydrographic Conditions ◽  
Sea Level Oscillations ◽  
Karst Landscapes ◽  
Blue Holes

Dissolution of carbonate platforms, like The Bahamas, throughout Quaternary sea-level oscillations have created mature karst landscapes that can include sinkholes and off-shore blue holes. These karst features are flooded by saline oceanic waters and meteoric-influenced groundwaters, which creates unique groundwater environments and ecosystems. Little is known about the modern benthic meiofauna, like foraminifera, in these environments or how internal hydrographic characteristics of salinity, dissolved oxygen, or pH may influence benthic habitat viability. Here we compare the total benthic foraminiferal distributions in sediment-water interface samples collected from <2 m water depth on the carbonate tidal flats, and the two subtidal blue holes Freshwater River Blue Hole and Meredith’s Blue Hole, on the leeward margin of Great Abaco Island, The Bahamas. All samples are dominated by miliolid foraminifera (i.e., Quinqueloculina and Triloculina), yet notable differences emerge in the secondary taxa between these two environments that allows identification of two assemblages: a Carbonate Tidal Flats Assemblage (CTFA) vs. a Blue Hole Assemblage (BHA). The CTFA includes abundant common shallow-water lagoon foraminifera (e.g., Peneroplis, Rosalina, Rotorbis), while the BHA has higher proportions of foraminifera that are known to tolerate stressful environmental conditions of brackish and dysoxic waters elsewhere (e.g., Pseudoeponides, Cribroelphidium, Ammonia). We also observe how the hydrographic differences between subtidal blue holes can promote different benthic habitats for foraminifera, and this is observed through differences in both agglutinated and hyaline fauna. The unique hydrographic conditions in subtidal blue holes make them great laboratories for assessing the response of benthic foraminiferal communities to extreme environmental conditions (e.g., low pH, dysoxia).

The Blue Holes of the Bahamas

1986 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Alexander Maitland ◽  
Robert Palmer
Keyword(s):  
The Bahamas ◽  
Blue Holes

The Precipitation of Calcium Carbonate on the Great Bahama Bank

1933 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 455-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice Black
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Water Samples ◽  
Chlorine Content ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Chemical Laboratory ◽  
Great Bahama Bank ◽  
Andros Island ◽  
The University ◽  
Total Salinity

In the spring of 1930 the International Expedition to the Bahamas made several traverses over the shoals west of Andros Island in order to study the sedimentation of calcium carbonate in this region, and along three of these lines water samples were collected at regular intervals. The chlorine content of each of these samples was determined by the author in the Chemical Laboratory at the University of Princeton, New Jersey, and the total salinity was obtained by calculation.

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