Distribution of Selected Dissolved and Particulate Heavy Metals in Lake Kenyir, Malaysia

This study was conducted to determine the concentration and possible sources of dissolved and particulate heavy metals in Lake Kenyir, Terengganu, Malaysia. The heavy metals studied included Cd, Fe, Pb, Zn and Cu. The findings indicated that the mean concentrations found in the dissolved form for surface waters were in decreasing order of Fe>Zn>Pb~Cu>Cd. A similar trend was also recorded for the particulate form i.e., Fe>Zn>Pb~Cu>Cd. In terms of vertical distribution, most of the heavy metals showed a trend of increasing concentrations from the surface to the bottom waters. The main sources of heavy metals were from anthropogenic activities such as discharge of untreated sewage, surface runoff and boat activity. However, the levels of dissolved heavy metals were still lower compared to other study areas in Malaysia. The dissolved heavy metal concentrations were equivalent with Class II based on the National Water Quality Standard for Malaysia.

Sediment Resuspension and Associated Extracellular Enzyme Activities Measured ex situ: A Mechanism for Benthic-Pelagic Coupling in the Deep Gulf of Mexico

Sediment resuspension caused by near-bed currents mediates exchange processes between the seafloor and the overlying water column, known as benthic-pelagic coupling. To investigate the effects of sediment resuspension on microbial enzyme activities in bottom waters (<500 m), we conducted onboard erosion experiments using sediment cores taken with a multi-corer from six deep-sea sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico. We then incubated the core-top water with resuspended sediments in roller tanks to simulate bottom water conditions following sediment resuspension. Bacterial cell abundance, particulate organic matter content, and potential rates of three hydrolytic enzymes (leucine aminopeptidases – PEP; β-glucosidases – GLU, lipases – LIP) were monitored during the experimentally-generated erosion events and subsequently in the roller tanks to examine whether resuspension of deep-sea sediments enhances activities of extracellular enzymes in overlying waters. Surficial sediments were resuspended at critical shear stress velocities between 1.4 and 1.7 cm s–1, which parallel bottom water currents of 28 and 34 cm s–1. Only one of our nine cores resisted experimentally generated bottom shear stresses and remained undisturbed, possibly as a result of oil residues from natural hydrocarbon seeps at the investigated site. The most notable enzymatic responses to sediment resuspension were found for LIP activities that increased in overlying waters of all eight of our resuspended cores and remained at high levels during the roller tank incubations. PEP and GLU showed orders of magnitude lower rates and more variable responses to experimentally resuspended sediments compared with LIP. We also found a disconnect between enzyme activities and bacterial cell numbers, indicating a major role of extracellular enzymes physically disconnected from microbial cells in our experiments. Our results demonstrate that sediment resuspension may promote organic matter breakdown in bottom waters by supplying extracellular enzymes without requiring a bacterial growth response. The marked increase in LIP activity suggests that resuspended enzymes may affect the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, including those from the natural seeps that are abundant in the investigation area.

Late Quaternary deep marine sediment records off southern Africa

High-resolution mapping, sampling and analysis of upper Quaternary southern African continental margin sediments recovered from beyond the Last Glacial Maximum shoreline (>130 m water depth) have expanded our understanding of how marine and terrestrial records are linked over glacial-interglacial climatic cycles. This paper synthesises data currently available from the deep seafloor around southern Africa and, specifically, core sites that demonstrate terrestrial sedimentological connectivity. Several proxies and case studies reveal the evolution of depositional systems, palaeoceanography and palaeoclimate over the last 191 kyr. Hydroacoustic mapping and investigations of submarine canyons have been carried out primarily on the eastern and southwestern margins, while palaeoceanographic productivity and microfossil assemblages have been applied most extensively on the western marine and southern Agulhas Bank. Studies on the western margin indicate that enhanced productivity, less oxygenated bottom waters and reduced marine faunal diversity in the transition to glacial periods, while glacial terminations are associated with reduced productivity and more oxygenated bottom waters. These changes, linked to palaeoceanography and late Quaternary sea-level fluctuations, influence the sedimentary record and sedimentation rates. On the eastern margin, sediment fluxes applied as proxies for rainfall offshore of the Great Kei, Umzimvubu, Limpopo and Zambezi rivers indicate that the southern African climate responds to changes in orbitally-modulated insolation and in particular, to the ~23 kyr precessional cycle, where the proxy records keep pace with this and then diverge at ~80 to 70 kyr. Since the penultimate glacial (Marine Isotope Stage/MIS 6), more humid conditions observed in southern Africa, as the Northern Hemisphere entered phases of rapid cooling, were potentially driven by a combination of warming in the Agulhas Current and shifts of the subtropical anticyclones. Broadly, the sedimentary records reviewed suggest fluctuations in climate and oceanographic circulation that are strongly correlated with the global benthic δ18O record, suggesting sensitivity to high-latitude forcing, and a strong influence of late Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles despite these marine sites being far-removed from terrestrial environments.

Distribution of Modern Benthic Foraminifera of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

<p>This thesis presents the results of a study of benthic foraminifera from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The sound is 50 km across and more than 900 m deep, and is ice-covered for at least 9 months of the year. However, salinity and temperature of the bottom waters are constant (35 per mil and -1.8 degrees C). Sea floor sediment is mainly fine sand and mud with a little ice-rafted gravel. The aim of the study was to document the distribution of living and dead foraminifera and to determine the factor(s) controlling it. The twenty-six sites in water from 76 to 856m deep were sampled by gravity corer and grab, and nearly 40,000 specimens (2334 living and 36,875 dead) were identified. Three present day assemblages can be recognised: 1. Shallow open water assemblage (SWA): Trochammina glabra, Cribrostomoides jeffreysii, Trifarina earlandi, Ehrenbergina glabra, Fursenkoina earlandi and Globocassidulina crassa. 2. Deep open water assemblage (DWA): Reophax pilulifer, Reophax subdentaliniformis, Portotrochammina antarctica, Textularia antarctica and Miliammina arenacea. 3. Harbour/enclosed basin assemblage (HA): Reophax subdentaliniformis, Portotrochammina antarctica, Textularia antarctica, Fursenkoina earlandi and Globocassidulina crassa. The composition of the assemblages is controlled largely by calcium carbonate compensation depth (CCD). Calcareous species are abundant and varied (84 calcareous species) in the SWA above 620m, but are virtually absent from the DWA, which is found in deeper water. The dominance of agglutinated foraminifera in the HA indicates an even shallower CCD (about 270m) in restricted coastal settings. Death assemblages have a similar species diversity to corresponding life assemblages and are reasonably representative of them, except for the 200m zone above the offshore CCD, where death assemblages are depleted in calcareous taxa. The diversity of the agglutinated component of each assemblage remains nearly constant in all habitats and at all water depths, even though shallow water samples include a range of calcareous species. Thus competition from calcareous species appears not to be a stress factor for agglutinated species, which are considered to have reached the limit of their evolutionary potential in these waters.</p>

Distribution of Modern Benthic Foraminifera of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

<p>This thesis presents the results of a study of benthic foraminifera from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The sound is 50 km across and more than 900 m deep, and is ice-covered for at least 9 months of the year. However, salinity and temperature of the bottom waters are constant (35 per mil and -1.8 degrees C). Sea floor sediment is mainly fine sand and mud with a little ice-rafted gravel. The aim of the study was to document the distribution of living and dead foraminifera and to determine the factor(s) controlling it. The twenty-six sites in water from 76 to 856m deep were sampled by gravity corer and grab, and nearly 40,000 specimens (2334 living and 36,875 dead) were identified. Three present day assemblages can be recognised: 1. Shallow open water assemblage (SWA): Trochammina glabra, Cribrostomoides jeffreysii, Trifarina earlandi, Ehrenbergina glabra, Fursenkoina earlandi and Globocassidulina crassa. 2. Deep open water assemblage (DWA): Reophax pilulifer, Reophax subdentaliniformis, Portotrochammina antarctica, Textularia antarctica and Miliammina arenacea. 3. Harbour/enclosed basin assemblage (HA): Reophax subdentaliniformis, Portotrochammina antarctica, Textularia antarctica, Fursenkoina earlandi and Globocassidulina crassa. The composition of the assemblages is controlled largely by calcium carbonate compensation depth (CCD). Calcareous species are abundant and varied (84 calcareous species) in the SWA above 620m, but are virtually absent from the DWA, which is found in deeper water. The dominance of agglutinated foraminifera in the HA indicates an even shallower CCD (about 270m) in restricted coastal settings. Death assemblages have a similar species diversity to corresponding life assemblages and are reasonably representative of them, except for the 200m zone above the offshore CCD, where death assemblages are depleted in calcareous taxa. The diversity of the agglutinated component of each assemblage remains nearly constant in all habitats and at all water depths, even though shallow water samples include a range of calcareous species. Thus competition from calcareous species appears not to be a stress factor for agglutinated species, which are considered to have reached the limit of their evolutionary potential in these waters.</p>

Geothermal heating and episodic cold-seawater intrusions into an isolated ridge-flank basin near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Six-year records of ocean bottom water temperatures at two locations in an isolated, sedimented deep-water (∼4500 m) basin on the western flank of the mid-Atlantic Ridge reveal long periods (months to >1 year) of slow temperature rises punctuated by more rapid (∼1 month) cooling events. The temperature rises are consistent with a combination of gradual heating by the geothermal flux through the basin and by diapycnal mixing, while the sharper cooling events indicate displacement of heated bottom waters by incursions of cold, dense bottom water over the deepest part of the sill bounding the basin. Profiles of bottom water temperature, salinity, and oxygen content collected just before and after a cooling event show a distinct change in the water mass suggestive of an incursion of diluted Antarctic Bottom Water from the west. Our results reveal details of a mechanism for the transfer of geothermal heat and bottom water renewal that may be common on mid-ocean ridge flanks.

Soluble, Colloidal, and Particulate Iron Across the Hydrothermal Vent Mixing Zones in Broken Spur and Rainbow, Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) forms geological heterogeneity throughout the ridge system by deep crustal faults and their resultant tectonic valleys, which results in the existence of different types of hydrothermal vent fields. Therefore, investigating MAR hydrothermal systems opens a gate to understanding the concentration ranges of ecosystem-limiting metals emanating from compositionally distinct fluids for both near-field chemosynthetic ecosystems and far-field transport into the ocean interiors. Here, we present novel data regarding onboard measured, size-fractionated soluble, colloidal, and particulate iron concentrations from the 2018 R/V L’Atalante – ROV Victor research expedition, during which samples were taken from the mixing zone of black smokers using a ROV-assisted plume sampling. Iron size fractionation (&lt;20, 20–200, and &gt;200nm) data were obtained from onboard sequential filtering, followed by measurement via ferrozine assay and spectrophotometric detection at 562nm. Our results showed the persistent presence of a nanoparticulate/colloidal phase (retained within 20–200nm filtrates) even in high-temperature samples. A significant fraction of this phase was retrievable only under treatment with HNO3 – a strong acid known to attack and dissolve pyrite nanocrystals. Upon mixing with colder bottom waters and removal of iron in the higher parts of the buoyant plume, the larger size fractions became dominant as the total iron levels decreased, but it was still possible to detect significant (micromolar) levels of nanoparticulate Fe even in samples collected 5m above the orifice in the rising plume. The coolest sample (&lt;10°C) still contained more than 1μM of only nitric acid-leachable nanoparticle/colloidal, at least 200 times higher than a typical Fe concentration in the non-buoyant plume. Our results support previous reports of dissolved Fe in MAR vent plumes, and we propose that this recalcitrant Fe pool – surviving immediate precipitation – contributes to maintaining high hydrothermal iron fluxes to the deep ocean.