Evidence for non-selective preservation of organic matter in sinking marine particles

The sinking of particulate organic matter from ocean surface waters transports carbon to the ocean interior, where almost all is then recycled. The unrecycled fraction of this organic matter can become buried in ocean sediments, thus sequestering carbon and so influencing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. The processes controlling the extensive biodegradation of sinking particles remain unclear, partly because of the difficulty in resolving the composition of the residual organic matter at depth with existing chromatographic techniques. Here, using solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy, we characterize the chemical structure of organic carbon in both surface plankton and sinking particulate matter from the Pacific Ocean and the Arabian Sea. We found that minimal changes occur in bulk organic composition, despite extensive (>98%) biodegradation, and that amino-acid-like material predominates throughout the water column in both regions. The compositional similarity between phytoplankton biomass and the small remnant of organic matter reaching the ocean interior indicates that the formation of unusual biochemicals, either by chemical recombination or microbial biosynthesis, is not the main process controlling the preservation of particulate organic carbon within the water column at these two sites. We suggest instead that organic matter might be protected from degradation by the inorganic matrix of sinking particles.     

Observational evidence for an ocean heat pump induced by tropical cyclones

Ocean mixing affects global climate and the marine biosphere because it is linked to the ocean's ability to store and transport heat and nutrients. Observations have constrained the magnitude of upper ocean mixing associated with certain processes, but mixing rates measured directly are significantly lower than those inferred from budget analyses, suggesting that other processes may play an important role. The winds associated with tropical cyclones are known to lead to localized mixing of the upper ocean, but the hypothesis that tropical cyclones are important mixing agents at the global scale has not been tested. Here we calculate the effect of tropical cyclones on surface ocean temperatures by comparing surface temperatures before and after storm passage, and use these results to calculate the vertical mixing induced by tropical cyclone activity. Our results indicate that tropical cyclones are responsible for significant cooling and vertical mixing of the surface ocean in tropical regions. Assuming that all the heat that is mixed downwards is balanced by heat transport towards the poles, we calculate that approximately 15 per cent of peak ocean heat transport may be associated with the vertical mixing induced by tropical cyclones. Furthermore, our analyses show that the magnitude of this mixing is strongly related to sea surface temperature, indicating that future changes in tropical sea surface temperatures may have significant effects on ocean circulation and ocean heat transport that are not currently accounted for in climate models.     

Endospore abundance, microbial growth and necromass turnover in deep sub-seafloor sediment

Two decades of scientific ocean drilling have demonstrated widespread microbial life in deep sub-seafloor sediment, and surprisingly high microbial-cell numbers. Despite the ubiquity of life in the deep biosphere, the large community sizes and the low energy fluxes in this vast buried ecosystem are not yet understood. It is not known whether organisms of the deep biosphere are specifically adapted to extremely low energy fluxes or whether most of the observed cells are in a dormant, spore-like state. Here we apply a new approach--the D:L-amino-acid model--to quantify the distributions and turnover times of living microbial biomass, endospores and microbial necromass, as well as to determine their role in the sub-seafloor carbon budget. The approach combines sensitive analyses of unique bacterial markers (muramic acid and D-amino acids) and the bacterial endospore marker, dipicolinic acid, with racemization dynamics of stereo-isomeric amino acids. Endospores are as abundant as vegetative cells and microbial activity is extremely low, leading to microbial biomass turnover times of hundreds to thousands of years. We infer from model calculations that biomass production is sustained by organic carbon deposited from the surface photosynthetic world millions of years ago and that microbial necromass is recycled over timescales of hundreds of thousands of years.     

纬向风作用下的热带海洋低频扰动

从热带海洋运动的物理特征出发,建立了适合热带地区特点的海洋方程组并对之进行了系统的尺度分析,指出时间尺度不同的运动其受控的物理过程各异．研究结果表明,挟卷对海洋Ｒｏｓｂｙ波的发展起抑制作用,而平流有利于海洋Ｒｏｓｂｙ波的发展;挟卷和平流都有利于与海温距平相对应的扰动Ｕ的发展．     

宏基因组技术及其在厌氧消化研究中的应用

在介绍基因（组）富集、基因（组）DNA提取、文库构建及筛选等宏基因组技术的基础上,论述了宏基因组技术在厌氧消化研究中应用的重要性,认为该技术可成为研究微生物群落多样性的首选技术之一,有助于了解厌氧消化微生物的多样性、生态功能和动态变化,揭示厌氧消化微生物学机理,提高厌氧消化效能等.同时宏基因组技术为微生物资源的深层次开发利用提供了技术平台,并在工业、农业、海洋等领域具有广泛的应用前景.     

Exploring cyclic changes of the ocean carbon reservoir

A 5-Ma record from ODP Site 1143 has re-vealed the long-term cycles of 400—500 ka in the carbon isotope variations. The periodicity is correlatable all over the global ocean and hence indicative of low-frequency changes in the ocean carbon reservoir. As the same periodicity is also found in carbonate and eolian dust records in the tropical ocean, it may have been caused by such low-latitude proc-esses like monsoon. According to the Quaternary records from Site 1143 and elsewhere, major ice-sheet expansion and major transition in glacial cyclicity (such as the Mid-Brunhes Event and the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution ) were all pre-ceded by reorganization in the ocean carbon reservoir ex-pressed as an episode of carbon isotope maximum (d 13Cmax), implying the role of carbon cycling in modulating the glacial periodicity. The Quaternary glacial cycles, therefore, should no more be ascribed to the physical response to insolation changes at the Northern Hemisphere high latitudes alone; rather, they have been driven by the 揹ouble forcing? a combination of processes at both high and low latitudes, and of processes in both physical (ice-sheet) and biogeochemical (carbon cycling) realms. As the Earth is now passing through a new carbon isotope maximum, it is of vital impor-tance to understand the cyclic variations in the ocean carbon reservoir and its climate impact. The Pre-Quaternary varia-tions in carbon and oxygen isotopes are characterized by their co-variations at the 400-ka eccentricity band, but the response of d 13C and d 18O to orbital forcing in the Quater-nary became diverged with the growth of the Arctic ice-sheet. The present paper is the second summary report of ODP Leg 184 to the South China Sea.     

Interactions between marine microorganisms and their phages

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities in marine ecosystems. Most of them are phages that infect bacteria and archaea. Phages play important roles in causing the mortality of prokaryotic cells, structuring microbial communities, mediating horizontal gene transfer between different microbes, influencing the microbial food web process, and promoting biogeochemical cycles (such as C, N, etc.) in the ocean. Here we provided an overview of recent advances in research on the interactions between marine microorganisms and their phages, and suggest future research directions based on our understanding of the literature and our own work.     

Agricultural runoff fuels large phytoplankton blooms in vulnerable areas of the ocean

Biological productivity in most of the world's oceans is controlled by the supply of nutrients to surface waters. The relative balance between supply and removal of nutrients--including nitrogen, iron and phosphorus--determines which nutrient limits phytoplankton growth. Although nitrogen limits productivity in much of the ocean, large portions of the tropics and subtropics are defined by extreme nitrogen depletion. In these regions, microbial denitrification removes biologically available forms of nitrogen from the water column, producing substantial deficits relative to other nutrients. Here we demonstrate that nitrogen-deficient areas of the tropical and subtropical oceans are acutely vulnerable to nitrogen pollution. Despite naturally high nutrient concentrations and productivity, nitrogen-rich agricultural runoff fuels large (54-577 km2) phytoplankton blooms in the Gulf of California. Runoff exerts a strong and consistent influence on biological processes, in 80% of cases stimulating blooms within days of fertilization and irrigation of agricultural fields. We project that by the year 2050, 27-59% of all nitrogen fertilizer will be applied in developing regions located upstream of nitrogen-deficient marine ecosystems. Our findings highlight the present and future vulnerability of these ecosystems to agricultural runoff.     

Functional metagenomic profiling of nine biomes

Microbial activities shape the biogeochemistry of the planet and macroorganism health. Determining the metabolic processes performed by microbes is important both for understanding and for manipulating ecosystems (for example, disruption of key processes that lead to disease, conservation of environmental services, and so on). Describing microbial function is hampered by the inability to culture most microbes and by high levels of genomic plasticity. Metagenomic approaches analyse microbial communities to determine the metabolic processes that are important for growth and survival in any given environment. Here we conduct a metagenomic comparison of almost 15 million sequences from 45 distinct microbiomes and, for the first time, 42 distinct viromes and show that there are strongly discriminatory metabolic profiles across environments. Most of the functional diversity was maintained in all of the communities, but the relative occurrence of metabolisms varied, and the differences between metagenomes predicted the biogeochemical conditions of each environment. The magnitude of the microbial metabolic capabilities encoded by the viromes was extensive, suggesting that they serve as a repository for storing and sharing genes among their microbial hosts and influence global evolutionary and metabolic processes.     

Climate-driven trends in contemporary ocean productivity

Contributing roughly half of the biosphere's net primary production (NPP), photosynthesis by oceanic phytoplankton is a vital link in the cycling of carbon between living and inorganic stocks. Each day, more than a hundred million tons of carbon in the form of CO2 are fixed into organic material by these ubiquitous, microscopic plants of the upper ocean, and each day a similar amount of organic carbon is transferred into marine ecosystems by sinking and grazing. The distribution of phytoplankton biomass and NPP is defined by the availability of light and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphate, iron). These growth-limiting factors are in turn regulated by physical processes of ocean circulation, mixed-layer dynamics, upwelling, atmospheric dust deposition, and the solar cycle. Satellite measurements of ocean colour provide a means of quantifying ocean productivity on a global scale and linking its variability to environmental factors. Here we describe global ocean NPP changes detected from space over the past decade. The period is dominated by an initial increase in NPP of 1,930 teragrams of carbon a year (Tg C yr(-1)), followed by a prolonged decrease averaging 190 Tg C yr(-1). These trends are driven by changes occurring in the expansive stratified low-latitude oceans and are tightly coupled to coincident climate variability. This link between the physical environment and ocean biology functions through changes in upper-ocean temperature and stratification, which influence the availability of nutrients for phytoplankton growth. The observed reductions in ocean productivity during the recent post-1999 warming period provide insight on how future climate change can alter marine food webs.     

Genomic and functional adaptation in surface ocean planktonic prokaryotes

The understanding of marine microbial ecology and metabolism has been hampered by the paucity of sequenced reference genomes. To this end, we report the sequencing of 137 diverse marine isolates collected from around the world. We analysed these sequences, along with previously published marine prokaryotic genomes, in the context of marine metagenomic data, to gain insights into the ecology of the surface ocean prokaryotic picoplankton (0.1-3.0?μm size range). The results suggest that the sequenced genomes define two microbial groups: one composed of only a few taxa that are nearly always abundant in picoplanktonic communities, and the other consisting of many microbial taxa that are rarely abundant. The genomic content of the second group suggests that these microbes are capable of slow growth and survival in energy-limited environments, and rapid growth in energy-rich environments. By contrast, the abundant and cosmopolitan picoplanktonic prokaryotes for which there is genomic representation have smaller genomes, are probably capable of only slow growth and seem to be relatively unable to sense or rapidly acclimate to energy-rich conditions. Their genomic features also lead us to propose that one method used to avoid predation by viruses and/or bacterivores is by means of slow growth and the maintenance of low biomass.     

海洋时间序列的谱分析方法

本文简要阐述了海洋时间序列中两类（标量与矢量）随机过程各种谱的定义、概念、性质等，并对国内目前应用尚不广泛的旋转谱与二阶谱作了较详细的叙述，且重点介绍用ＦＦＴ进行各种谱估计的方法。     

土壤微生物多样性与植物多样性

土壤中生活着丰富的微生物类群,是一个重要的地下生物宝库.土壤微生物是土壤中的主要分解者,对环境起着天然的“过滤”和“净化”作用,在自然生态系统的功能发挥和维持能力方面极其重要.植物、土壤和微生物相互作用,构成了一个植物-土壤-微生物的有机整体.土壤微生物多样性代表着微生物群落的稳定性,指生命体在遗传、种类和生态系统层次上的变化.从遗传、分类、生态功能以及系统发育等多方面阐述了当前土壤微生物多样性的研究工作.同时探讨了植物多样性与土壤微生物多样性之间的内在联系,植被的破坏可直接导致土壤微生物多样性的丧失,而土壤微生物对植物物种多样性的维持又具有重要作用.因此,加强土壤微生物多样性研究对植物多样性保护具有重要意义.     

Effect of trace metal availability on coccolithophorid calcification

The deposition of atmospheric dust into the ocean has varied considerably over geological time. Because some of the trace metals contained in dust are essential plant nutrients which can limit phytoplankton growth in parts of the ocean, it has been suggested that variations in dust supply to the surface ocean might influence primary production. Whereas the role of trace metal availability in photosynthetic carbon fixation has received considerable attention, its effect on biogenic calcification is virtually unknown. The production of both particulate organic carbon and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) drives the ocean's biological carbon pump. The ratio of particulate organic carbon to CaCO3 export, the so-called rain ratio, is one of the factors determining CO2 sequestration in the deep ocean. Here we investigate the influence of the essential trace metals iron and zinc on the prominent CaCO3-producing microalga Emiliania huxleyi. We show that whereas at low iron concentrations growth and calcification are equally reduced, low zinc concentrations result in a de-coupling of the two processes. Despite the reduced growth rate of zinc-limited cells, CaCO3 production rates per cell remain unaffected, thus leading to highly calcified cells. These results suggest that changes in dust deposition can affect biogenic calcification in oceanic regions characterized by trace metal limitation, with possible consequences for CO2 partitioning between the atmosphere and the ocean.     

2008年台风森拉克引起上层海水降温的机制

采用区域海洋模型(regional ocean modeling system,ROMS)模拟了2008-2009年西太平洋的水动力过程,重点关注台湾东侧台风影响的海域,研究2008年13号强台风森拉克引起的上层海水降温机制.通过对模拟结果的分析,认为30m以上海水的降温主要是扩散作用即夹卷效应造成,而30m以下海水的降温主要由垂向对流即上升流造成.海水从下层50～800m的深度处辐聚上升,在表层50m以浅辐散流出.台风过后海水温度逐渐恢复.研究认为:台风会加强海水的垂向湍流/混合,导致最大Ekman泵吸水深下探,使得下层的低温海水更有可能到达表层.     

Novel pathway for assimilation of dimethylsulphoniopropionate widespread in marine bacteria

Dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) accounts for up to 10% of carbon fixed by marine phytoplankton in ocean surface waters, producing an estimated 11.7-103?Tmol S per year, most of which is processed by marine bacteria through the demethylation/demethiolation pathway. This pathway releases methanethiol (MeSH) instead of the climatically active gas dimethylsulphide (DMS) and enables marine microorganisms to assimilate the reduced sulphur. Despite recognition of this critical microbial transformation for over two decades, the biochemical pathway and enzymes responsible have remained unidentified. Here we show that three new enzymes related to fatty acid β-oxidation constitute the pathway that assimilates methylmercaptopropionate (MMPA), the first product of DMSP demethylation/demethiolation, and that two previously unknown coenzyme A (CoA) derivatives, 3-methylmercaptopropionyl-CoA (MMPA-CoA) and methylthioacryloyl-CoA (MTA-CoA), are formed as novel intermediates. A member of the marine roseobacters, Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3, requires the MMPA-CoA pathway for MMPA assimilation and MeSH production. This pathway and the ability to produce MeSH from MMPA are present in diverse bacteria, and the ubiquitous SAR11 clade bacterium Pelagibacter ubique possesses enzymes for at least the first two steps. Analysis of marine metagenomic data indicates that the pathway is widespread among bacterioplankton in the ocean surface waters, making it one of the most important known routes for acquisition of reduced carbon and sulphur by surface ocean heterotrophs.     

海洋卫星微波遥感技术发展现状与展望

 主动式和被动式微波遥感可以得到大量的地球物理参数和上层海洋信息,包括海表温度、海面矢量风、海面高度、海表盐度、海冰等。微波遥感可以穿透云层,全天候不间断观测海况信息。中国计划2011年发射运行的“海洋”2号（HY-2A）卫星有效载荷为3个微波遥感器,主要用来观测海面矢量风、海表温度和海面高度。HY-2A卫星将有效提高全球海洋卫星观测在时间和空间上的采样频率。本文介绍了与HY-2A卫星相关的海洋微波遥感技术现状,对微波遥感的优势和目前业务化运行的海洋微波卫星的局限性进行分析,总结了微波遥感的新技术进展和全球下一代微波遥感卫星的发射计划,最后指出发展中国立体海洋监测和中国“海洋”3号（HY-3）卫星（其主载荷为C频段多极化合成孔径雷达）对于更深入了解大洋和海岸带的必要性。     

Increased thermohaline stratification as a possible cause for an ocean anoxic event in the Cretaceous period

Ocean anoxic events were periods of high carbon burial that led to drawdown of atmospheric carbon dioxide, lowering of bottom-water oxygen concentrations and, in many cases, significant biological extinction. Most ocean anoxic events are thought to be caused by high productivity and export of carbon from surface waters which is then preserved in organic-rich sediments, known as black shales. But the factors that triggered some of these events remain uncertain. Here we present stable isotope data from a mid-Cretaceous ocean anoxic event that occurred 112 Myr ago, and that point to increased thermohaline stratification as the probable cause. Ocean anoxic event 1b is associated with an increase in surface-water temperatures and runoff that led to decreased bottom-water formation and elevated carbon burial in the restricted basins of the western Tethys and North Atlantic. This event is in many ways similar to that which led to the more recent Plio-Pleistocene Mediterranean sapropels, but the greater geographical extent and longer duration (approximately 46 kyr) of ocean anoxic event 1b suggest that processes leading to such ocean anoxic events in the North Atlantic and western Tethys were able to act over a much larger region, and sequester far more carbon, than any of the Quaternary sapropels.     

Ocean nutrient ratios governed by plankton biogeography

The major nutrients nitrate and phosphate have one of the strongest correlations in the sea, with a slope similar to the average nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) content of plankton biomass (N/P = 16:1). The processes through which this global relationship emerges despite the wide range of N/P ratios at the organism level are not known. Here we use an ocean circulation model and observed nutrient distributions to show that the N/P ratio of biological nutrient removal varies across latitude in Southern Ocean surface waters, from 12:1 in the polar ocean to 20:1 in the sub-Antarctic zone. These variations are governed by regional differences in the species composition of the plankton community. The covariation of dissolved nitrate and phosphate is maintained by ocean circulation, which mixes the shallow subsurface nutrients between distinct biogeographic provinces. Climate-driven shifts in these marine biomes may alter the mean N/P ratio and the associated carbon export by Southern Ocean ecosystems.