Journal Article

Deep-Sea Bioluminescence Blooms after Dense Water Formation at the Ocean Surface

Lahmann, Robert, Ferri, Marcelino, Houpert, Loïc, Chiarusi, Tommaso, Kooijman, Paul, Bouhou, Boutayeb, Capone, Antonio, Flaminio, Vincenzo, Busto, José, Gay, Pascal, Durrieu de Madron, Xavier, Kalekin, Oleg, Bogazzi, Claudio, Fermani, Paolo, Deschamps, Anne, Kappes, Alexander, Fuda, Jean-Luc, Larosa, Giuseppina, Lefèvre, Dominique, Fritsch, Ulf, Kreykenbohm, Ingo, Charif, Ziad, Hernández-Rey, Juan Jose, Hsu, Ching-Cheng, Ernenwein, Jean-Pierre, Albert, Arnaud, Brunner, Jurgen, Bertin, Vincent, Baret, Bruny, Hartman, Joris, Drouhin, Doriane, Emanuele, Umberto, Guillard, Goulven, Dekeyser, Ivan, Decowski, Patrick, Aubert, Jean-Jacques, Coniglione, Rosa, Graf, Kay, Bou-Cabo, Manuel, Lim, Gordon, Hößl, Jurgen, André, Michel, Hello, Yann, Heijboer, Aart J., Loehner, Herbert, Mangano, Salvatore, Lamare, Patrick, D'Ortenzio, Fabrizio, Dorosti, Hasankiadeh Q., Kopper, Claudio, Kouchner, Antoine, Bigi, Armando, Camarena, Francisco, de Jong, Marteen, Folger, Florian, Samarai, Imen Al, Donzaud, Corinne, Escoffier, Stéphanie, Anvar, Shebli, Tamburini, Christian, Circella, Marco, Gómez-González, Juan-Pablo, Curtil, Chri

2013

Overview

The deep ocean is the largest and least known ecosystem on Earth. It hosts numerous pelagic organisms, most of which are able to emit light. Here we present a unique data set consisting of a 2.5-year long record of light emission by deep-sea pelagic organisms, measured from December 2007 to June 2010 at the ANTARES underwater neutrino telescope in the deep NW Mediterranean Sea, jointly with synchronous hydrological records. This is the longest continuous time-series of deep-sea bioluminescence ever recorded. Our record reveals several weeks long, seasonal bioluminescence blooms with light intensity up to two orders of magnitude higher than background values, which correlate to changes in the properties of deep waters. Such changes are triggered by the winter cooling and evaporation experienced by the upper ocean layer in the Gulf of Lion that leads to the formation and subsequent sinking of dense water through a process known as \"open-sea convection\". It episodically renews the deep water of the study area and conveys fresh organic matter that fuels the deep ecosystems. Luminous bacteria most likely are the main contributors to the observed deep-sea bioluminescence blooms. Our observations demonstrate a consistent and rapid connection between deep open-sea convection and bathypelagic biological activity, as expressed by bioluminescence. In a setting where dense water formation events are likely to decline under global warming scenarios enhancing ocean stratification, in situ observatories become essential as environmental sentinels for the monitoring and understanding of deep-sea ecosystem shifts.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Animals / Astronomical Sciences / Bacteria / Biological activity / Biological Physics / Biology / Bioluminescence / Cell Count / Climate change / Convection / Deep sea / Deep water / Desenvolupament humà i sostenible / Earth Sciences / Ecologia marina / Ecological monitoring / Ecosistemes marins / Emission measurements / Environmental changes / Environmental monitoring / Eutrophication - physiology / Evaporation / Evaporative cooling / Fluorescence / Global temperature changes / Global warming / Hydrology / Light emission / Light intensity / Luminescent Measurements - methods / Luminous bacteria / Luminous intensity / Marine ecology / Marine ecosystems / Marine plankton / Medi ambient / Mediterranean Region / Neutrinos / Observatories / Ocean surface / Ocean warming / Oceanografia / Oceanography / Oceans / Oceans and Seas / Organic matter / Pelagic zone / Physics / Plàncton / Sciences of the Universe / Seasons / Telescopes / Underwater / Upper ocean / Àrees temàtiques de la UPC