Pacific ocean, home to bacterial communities
01/11/2013 00:49
Pacific ocean, home to bacterial communities
By Cherelle Jackson
The ideallic image of the Pacific Ocean has been marred by the findings of a recent study by the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution at the University of Southern Denmark which indicate very active bacterial communities in a deep sea trench in the Pacific.
The Marianas Trench was the site of the study, which saw the use of a massive robot to collect sediment in the trench and measure the distribution of oxygen, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The study found an abundant of bacteria as a result of dead animals, algae and other microbes falling into the trench over time, therefore providing the perfect environment for bacteria to thrive.
According to the study, bacterial communities are 10 times more active at the bottom of that trench than in the plains surrounding the trench.
"The deep sea trenches are some of the last remaining ‘white spots’ on the world map. We know very little about what is going on down there or which impact the deep sea trenches have on the global carbon cycle as well as climate regulation,” said lead author Ronnie Glud, a biochemist from Nordic Center.
But bacterial colonies are an important factor in the long-term carbon cycle of the ocean.
Scientists are just now discovering the importance of bacteria in the world's ocean, according to the Centre of Environmental Science at the University of Maryland in an article on water science.
Published scientific papers note that bacteria is found in all portions water with some aerobic (requiring oxygen) and others anaerobic (not requiring oxygen).
The role of bacteria is noted in the history of the earth and ocean processes, as one particular bacteria known as Cyanobacteria, produced oxygen during the process of photosynthesis, which generated the oxygen in the earth's atmosphere that many living beings require today.
So although it does sound discouraging that the Pacific ocean is teeming with bacteria, at least we know it's important to the ocean process, even if it will turns away some tourists.