Award: OCE-0826254

Award Title: Collaborative Research: Structure, Function and Evolution of Authigenic, Methane-Derived Carbonate Ecosystems
Funding Source: NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE)
Program Manager: David L. Garrison

Outcomes Report

Award Number: 0826254 Award Title: Collaborative Research: Structure, Function and Evolution of Authigenic, Methane-Derived Carbonate Ecosystems Public Statement. The deep ocean is vast and much of it remains unexplored. While there are parts of the deep ocean we have never visited, detailed study of areas previously visited can reveal new secrets and lessons of great value in understanding life in the ocean. This project explored the life forms associated with carbonate rocks in two regions with methane seepage on the continental margins: one off Costa Rica (400-1850 m) and one off Oregon (500-900m water depth). We used the submersible ALVIN and the remotely operated vehicle JASON to observe, sample and conduct manipulative experiments intended to examine the roles of seepage activity, ocean conditions, and substrate type in shaping microbial and animal communities. In the process we discovered that carbonate rocks, themselves created by an exotic consortium of microbes, host a wealth of previously unknown bacteria, archaea, and small animals – effectively forming their own distinct, dynamic ecosystem. These communities are greatly influenced by proximity to methane seepage. In the processes of conducting these studies we discovered (a) the first animal known to derive nutrition primarily from the kingdom archaea, (b) the first yeti crab representative from methane seeps and only the second member of this family known (Kiwa puravida), (c) the first evidence of a dimorphic (two stage) lifestyle for the largest known bacteria, Thiomargarita, (d) the first (fungal-like) microsporidia ever reported from the deep sea, found in nematodes on seep carbonates and (e) new-found examples of animals and protists living in symbiosis with methane eating microbes. We discovered a novel deep-sea habitat type at 1800 m off Costa Rica that blends attributes of a hydrothermal vent and methane seep; we called this a hydrothermal seep. This study has yielded the first description of active and abundant microbes (methane-oxidizing archaea and sulfate-reducing bacterial partners) living inside methane seep carbonates. It has also yielded a wealth of new biodiversity, with over forty undescribed animals species. Descriptions of new worms, clams, mussels, snails, brittle stars and crabs are made or in progress. What is so remarkable is that our two study regions had been visited numerous times by other scientists before we got there. Taken together our findings reveal exquisite biological communities on margins of the E. Pacific Ocean, living in tight dependence on their environment and other organisms, and vulnerable to disturbance from human activities. Equally important, we have managed introduce a large number of undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral scientists, and a rural science teacher, to the wonders of deep- sea science, contributing to the next generation of deep-ocean explorers and researchers. Last Modified: 10/26/2012 Submitted by: Lisa A Levin
DatasetLatest Version DateCurrent State
Alvin dive log from off Costa Rica from R/V Atlantis AT15-59, AT15-44 in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica, Pacific, off Costa Rica from 2009-2010 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-01-19Final with updates expected
CTD data collected during Alvin dives from R/V Atlantis AT15-59 in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica from January 2010 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-01-23Final with updates expected
Alvin tube corer log from R/V Atlantis AT15-59 in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica from January 2010 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-01-30Final no updates expected
Multicore log for Atlantis-15-59/Alvin cruise off Costa Rica in the Pacific Ocean from January 2010 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-01-30Final no updates expected
Plankton tow log from Alvin dives from R/V Atlantis AT15-59 in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica from January 2010 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-01-30Final no updates expected
Cruise tracks for the CROCKS_II and HROCKS projects from R/V Atlantis AT15-44, AT15-59, AT15-68, AT18-10 in the Pacific, off Costa Rica and USA from 2009-2011 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-10-25Final no updates expected
C14 and N15 isotopes in rocks and animals from methane seep hard substrate ecosystems from R/V Atlantis AT15-44 in the Pacific, off Costa Rica from 2009-2009 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-10-25Final no updates expected
Species abundance on carbonate rocks from active and inactive sites at methane seeps from R/V Atlantis AT15-44, AT15-68 in the Pacific, off Costa Rica and USA, 2009-2010 (CROCKS II project)2012-10-30Final no updates expected
Methane seep hard substrate species collected on RV/Atlantis AT15-44, AT15-59, AT15-68, AT18-10 in the Pacific, off Costa Rica and USA from 2009-2011 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-10-24Final no updates expected
Station locations for CROCKS & HROCKS projects from R/V Atlantis AT15-44, AT15-59, AT15-68, AT18-10 in the Pacific, off Costa Rica and USA from 2009-2011 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-10-24Final no updates expected
Experimental results: species abundance from transplants between active and inactive areas around methane seeps from R/V Atlantis AT18-10 in the Pacific Ocean, off USA from 2011-2011 (CROCKS II project)2012-10-31Final no updates expected
Species counts on wood, rock and biotic colonization substrates from R/V Atlantis AT15-59 in the Pacific Ocean on the Costa Rica margin from 2010-2010 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-11-07Final no updates expected
CTD station profile data from R/V Atlantis AT15-44 in the Pacific, off Costa Rica from February to March 2009 (Seep Carbonate Ecology CROCKS II project)2012-11-14Final no updates expected
16S rRNA gene and particulate monooxygenase diversity from R/V Atlantis AT15-68, AT18-10, AT15-44, AT15-59 off Costa Rica and USA, Pacific Ocean, 2009-2011 (Authigenic Carbonate Ecosystems project)2014-01-31Final no updates expected

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People

Principal Investigator: Lisa A. Levin (University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography)

Co-Principal Investigator: Gregory W Rouse