Respiration by "marine snow" at high hydrostatic pressure: Insights from continuous oxygen measurements in a rotating pressure tank.

ABSTRACT: It is generally anticipated that particulate organic carbon (POC) for most part is degraded by attached microorganisms during the descent of "marine snow" aggregates toward the deep sea. There is, however, increasing evidence that fresh aggregates can reach great depth and sustain relatively high biological activity in the deep sea. Using a novel high-pressure setup, we tested the hypothesis that increasing levels of hydrostatic pressure inhibit POC degradation in aggregates rapidly sinking to the ocean interior. Respiration activity, a proxy for POC degradation, was measured directly and continuously at up to 100 MPa (corresponding to 10 km water depth) in a rotating pressure tank that keeps the aggregates in a sinking mode. Model diatom-bacteria aggregates, cultures of the aggregate-form

SUBMITTER: Stief P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8359982 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature