OB23A:
Approaches to Studying Marine Oxygen Deficient Zones from Macro to Micro Scales I

Session ID#: 93092

Session Description:
Eutrophication and climate change have been implicated in the emergence and expansion of hypoxic zones in marine systems. Corresponding shifts in microbial community towards anaerobic metabolisms have resulted indecreased nitrogen bioavailability and, as by-product, the release of potent greenhouse (N2O and CH4) or toxic (H2S) gases.Besides the more frequently investigated large scale hypoxic zones (100s of m to 100s of km), ephemeral and local (mm – meters) hypoxia has also been shown to severely impact the structure and productivity of aquatic ecosystems. Current advances in measuring low dissolved oxygen concentrations (e.g., switchable trace oxygen (STOX) amperometric microsensors, optical beads, gas tension devices) at high temporal and spatial resolutions provide an increasingly comprehensive overview on the occurrence of these phenomena. However, the extent and the ecological significance of small scale, local low oxygen zones remains unresolved. This session will bring different lines of research together to a) discuss advances in analytical technology, including stable and radioisotope geochemical (13C, 15N, 14C) and metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches b) identify overarching factors that dictate the emergence of low oxygen zones c) understand the effects of decreased oxygen availability on different habitats and communities, and d) propose mitigation strategies for the increasing impacts of hypoxia on benthic habitats. We aim to bring together ecologists and physiologists, physical oceanographers, fluid dynamic analysts, as well as all other scientists interested in aquatic oxygen dynamics at local scales to look into the complex interplay between microbes, nutrients and organic matter cycling in ODZs.
Co-Sponsor(s):
  • CT - Chemical Tracers, Organic Matter and Trace Elements
  • IS - Ocean Observatories, Instrumentation and Sensing Technologies
  • ME - Marine Ecology and Biodiversity
  • MM - Microbiology and Molecular Ecology
  • OC - Ocean Change: Acidification and Hypoxia
  • PI - Physical-Biological Interactions
Index Terms:

4220 Coral reef systems [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL]
4227 Diurnal, seasonal, and annual cycles [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL]
4546 Nearshore processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4804 Benthic processes, benthos [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL]
4805 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling [OCEANOGRAPHY: CHEMICAL]
4840 Microbiology and microbial ecology [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL]
4845 Nutrients and nutrient cycling [OCEANOGRAPHY: CHEMICAL]
4894 Instruments, sensors, and techniques [OCEANOGRAPHY: CHEMICAL]
Primary Chair:  Annie Bourbonnais, University of South Carolina, School of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, Columbia, United States
Co-chairs:  Andreas Haas, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Marine Microbiology & Biogeochemistry, Den Burg, Netherlands, Mark A Altabet, Univ Massachusetts Darmouth, New Bedford, United States and Brett Walker, University of Ottawa, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Primary Liaison:  Annie Bourbonnais, University of South Carolina, School of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, Columbia, United States
Moderators:  Andreas Haas, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Marine Microbiology & Biogeochemistry, Den Burg, Netherlands and Mark A Altabet, Univ Massachusetts Darmouth, New Bedford, United States
Student Paper Review Liaisons:  Annie Bourbonnais, University of South Carolina, School of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, Columbia, United States and Andreas Haas, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Marine Microbiology & Biogeochemistry, Den Burg, Netherlands

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

OB23A-01
A float-based autonomous three-year time-series of ODZ biogeochemistry in the Eastern Tropical N. Pacific (648112)
Mark A Altabet, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology, New Bedford, MA, United States, Craig L McNeil, University of Washington, Applied Physics Laboratory, Seattle, United States, Eric A D'Asaro, Applied Physics Lab, Univ of Washington, Seattle, United States and Annie Bourbonnais, University of South Carolina, School of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, Columbia, United States
OB23A-02
Characterizing Organic Matter Composition Along Oxygen Gradients In The Eastern Tropical Pacific Oxygen Deficient Zone (655134)
Irina Koester1, Margot Elizabeth White1, Daniel Petras1, Sonia Vargas2, Pieter Dorrestein3, Michael Beman4 and Lihini Aluwihare5, (1)University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States, (2)University of California Merced, Merced, United States, (3)University of California San Diego, Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, La Jolla, CA, United States, (4)University of California Merced, Life and Environmental Sciences, Merced, United States, (5)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States
OB23A-03
Impact of Water Column Structure on Oxygen and Carbon Distributions on the Texas-Louisiana Continental Shelf (651548)
Luis Daniel Perez Squeo, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Mayaguez, United States and Steven Francis DiMarco, Texas A&M University, Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG), College Station, United States
OB23A-04
Fine-scale Estimates of Net Nitrous Oxide Production Rates and Sediment Fluxes Along Vertical Gradients of Dissolved Oxygen in Muddy Sediments from a Temperate Estuary (654607)
Brett Jameson1, Peter Berg2, Damian Grundle3 and Kim Juniper1,4, (1)University of Victoria, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Victoria, BC, Canada, (2)University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences, Charlottesville, VA, United States, (3)Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science, St. George's, Bermuda, (4)Ocean Networks Canada, Victoria, BC, Canada
OB23A-05
What does the seafloor sound like ? First exploration of a softbottom underwater soundscape in the Baltic sea along a hypoxia gradient. (649236)
Julie Lossent1, Cedric Gervaise1 and Anna Törnroos2, (1)Chorus, Grenoble, France, (2)Abo akademi university, The Sea, Turku, Finland
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