Carbon Black Box Secrets of Around the World Expedition

Source and Courtesy Image Around the World Expedition -Malaspina Spain CSIC

A new investigation of CSIC revealed the secrets of a mass of ocean depth microorganisms which store the same amount of carbon than that stored in the atmosphere.

It took over 220 years for the Around the World Expedition to take on its second scientific voyage but the 2011-2012 the Malaspina Expedition of Spain sailed once again and proved it could still reveal ocean secrets. The expedition gathered so much data that investigation and research is still today -5 years after, breaking international news with important findings.

On the last days of January 2015 CSIC -the Spanish National Research Council revealed the secrets of the carbon storage cycles in the ocean depths. The study conducted by researchers of the Malaspina Expedition and published in the Magazine Nature Communications concluded that the unicellular ocean depth microorganisms compose a “massive black box” filled with carbon storage.

The microorganisms which the study focus can incredible persist in ocean waters thousands of years. Additionally organisms are fluorescent and conduct biochemical energy cycles. CSIC described the findings as a “leap forward” in the knowledge of organic matter dissolved in the ocean depths.

The data which was gathered during the circumnavigation of the Hesperides Vessel of Malaspina Expedition in 2011-2012 after analysis and calculations reached conclusions that microorganism form a volume mass of 700 billion kilograms. The mass of carbon accounts for the same amount of the total of carbon dioxide which is stored today in the atmosphere.

The finding could rewrite papers on atmospheric carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, climate change, carbon economies, carbon sequestration and relevant issues. Established science recognizes biological organisms capable of storing carbon. A wide range of biological forms which usually belong to the Plantae Kingdom are highlighted for their importance. These environments, some including ocean plantae environments are under conservation policies in aims of mitigating increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. While the role of Carbon and gas ocean-atmosphere interactions are well documented and microorganisms role in the use and storage of carbon dioxide and other gases established never before has a volume mass of carbon biological organisms been revealed for its importance. The issue is a double edge sword, sharp on both ends. It becomes of great value to reveal how stable the organisms are, if they are affected and whether they are on the rise or on the fall.

MIcroorganisms studied are estimated to have cycles of life which exceed the time cycles of the ocean dynamic or “water shifting” cycles, living between 400 to 600 years at depths below 200 meters. Due to the aphotic characteristics of the environment -where no sunlight can penetrate, organisms have developed fluorescence cycles.

“This lifetime is superior to the time which the deep ocean takes to renovate itself, approximately 350 years, which means that the fluorescence molecules, which represent between 1 to 15% of organic matter have the potential of anthropogenic (or human source) carbon sequestration in the depths, and therefore contribute to the mitigation of the greenhouse effect caused by the burning of fossil fuels,” Xose Anton Alvarez Salgado, researcher of the CSIC revealed.

Scientists warn that the discovery of the massive volume composed by a community of microorganism and their capacity to store carbon of human source and balancing wider climate change impacts should not be utilized in reversing carbon policies. Similar environments capturing carbon have been acting side by side the now revealed “ocean carbon depths black box” or the “expanded microbial carbon pump”.

Over 800 samples extracted from ocean basins are the base in which the study constructs its findings. The Hesperides ship sailing under the Malaspina Expedition flag took on waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Malaspina explains that the natural transportation of masses of ocean waters driven by standing oceanic currents allows for the analysis of waters which have been transported hundreds of years some from diverse parts of the globe, polar, tropical and equatorial latitudes.

First author of the paper published at Nature Magazine Teresa S. Catalá of the University of Granada explained details on technology used for the analysis of the samples. Over 2.5 million data rose from the spectrofluorescence analysis of the 800 samples of water.

“Never to the day has such an effort been taken on nor such amount of data gathered to gain insight on the fluorescence of the deep ocean,” Catalá main author of CSIC stated.

Future works related to climate change are signaled by the group.

Ocean Life News in Brief

Ocean Level Increase Dropping Oceans Floor: International Press reported on December 5 on the findings of new research which assures that due to ocean level increase the ocean floor is sinking. The study published online in Geophysical Research Levels used mathematical equations to accurately measure the Ocean's floor impact driven by the increased of water volume weight. Using data from 1993 to 2014 researchers found that ocean level increase is causing the Ocean floor to drop globally by the milimeters. Ocean Dead Zones Up By Four: On January 8 New York Daily reported that Ocean Dead Zones have quadrupled.Researchers warned in a new study that oxygen-starved ocean dead zones, where animals and plants are struggling to survive, have increased fourfold and it may not be reversible. The new study was published in the Journal Science. The increase of Dead Zones was linked to climate change. La Niña´s Polar Wave Hitting Hard the US -Freezing Oceans: International Press reported on the Polar Wave hitting hard the US. The event is linked by experts to the influence of La Niña. “For the past couple of weeks, parts of North America have been chilling down to record temperatures, with massive snowfall and icy cold conditions putting life at a standstill for many,” media reported. The US East Coast has been particularly badly hit with the likes of Boston down to Philadelphia reaching bone-chilling lows of near 0°F , with icy winds making it feel closer to around -10°F to -20°F. Officially 18 were dead and 100 million affected. Government of Bali Declares a Garbage Emergency: On January 5 Ocean Conservancy reported on a New Waste Management Emergency in Bali. Massive amounts of ocean debri are affecting the island. The situation has reached its peak as the Government of Bali declared a “Garbage Emergency”. Clean up works have began. “Ivory Coast Village Swallowed by Ocean Increase,” Aljazeera Reports: On January 8 Al Jazeera reported that ocean increase levels are affecting infrastructure in the Ivory Coast. “Rising tides and more frequent, devastating storms are slowly destroying what is left of Lahou-Kpanda, the offshoot of what was once a major colonial town near the mouth of the Bandama River, the longest river in Ivory Coast,” Al Jazeera reported. Arctic Ocean Radioactive Levels on the Rise: IFL Science reported on January 3 on the findings of new report which assures that radioactive levels in the Arctic Ocean are on the rise. “Concentrations of radioactive radium-228 in the Arctic Ocean increased between 2007 and 2015,” the report reads. While levels have not yet reached a mark of concern the trend is worries experts. Lauren Kipp of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution addressed the issue. New World Wide Ocean Turtle Study Says 90% of Plastic Pollution Cases Result in Death: Earth Sky Org reported on January 7 that hundreds of marine turtles die every year after getting tangled in trash in oceans and on beaches. A research published in the journal Endangered Species Research took on a World-Wide Survey covering the major oceans where turtles live. They discovered that 91 % of the entangled turtles were found dead. They also suffered serious wounds from entanglement, leading to maiming, amputation or choking. Double Whirlpools Discovered for First Time: December 4 Press reported that Double Eddies have been registered for the first time in History. Tangled up Double Eddies can travel great distances affecting ecology significantly. Eddies are a natural part of the ocean environment but double whirlpools had only been theorized by mathematicians.