Tubeworms and associated organisms sampling information collected in the Pacific margin of Costa Rica. The collections are taken aboard R/V Atlantis in 2017 and 2018 using DSV Alvin. The 2019 collections were made aboard R/V Falkor using the ROV Subastian

Website: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/806468
Data Type: Cruise Results
Version: 1
Version Date: 2020-03-19

Project
» Collaborative research: Quantifying the biological, chemical, and physical linkages between chemosynthetic communities and the surrounding deep sea (Costa Rica Seeps)
ContributorsAffiliationRole
Cordes, Erik E.Temple University (Temple)Principal Investigator, Contact
Levin, Lisa A.University of California-San Diego (UCSD-SIO)Co-Principal Investigator
Orphan, Victoria J.California Institute of Technology (Caltech)Co-Principal Investigator
Roman, Christopher NeilUniversity of California-San Diego (UCSD-SIO)Co-Principal Investigator
Rouse, GregoryUniversity of California-San Diego (UCSD-SIO)Co-Principal Investigator
Soenen, KarenWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO)BCO-DMO Data Manager

Abstract
Sampling information from tubeworms and associated organisms collected from different seep sites off the Costa Rica margin. he collections were made aboard R/V Atlantis during 2017 and 2018 using DSV Alvin. In 2019 the collections were made aboard R/V Falkor, using the ROV Subastian.


Coverage

Spatial Extent: N:9.1193 E:-84.31208 S:8.92954 W:-84.84292
Temporal Extent: 2017-05-22 - 2018-11-04

Dataset Description

Sampling information from tubeworms and associated organisms collected from different seep sites off the Costa Rica margin. The collections were made aboard R/V Atlantis during 2017 and 2018 using DSV Alvin. In 2019 the collections were made aboard R/V Falkor, using the ROV Subastian. Sampling information contains diameter, length, Phylum, Class, Order, Family and Genus.


Methods & Sampling

Samples were collected using deep sea vehicle Alvin and ROV Subastian, on R/V Atlantis and R/V Falkor. Methods used for collection involved either grabs, mussel pots, bushmaster junior, suction apparatus or net scoops.

  • Bushmaster – Original instruments created at Penn State to collect hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. Hydraulic rods are attached to a very fine mesh that is deployed over the tubeworm patch of interest to collect the tubeworms and associated community. Once the assemblage is enclosed, the net is cinched closed using the submersible or ROV manipulator. Like the mussel pot, this allows for quantitative collections of tubeworm communities.

Data Processing Description

Samples were processed aboard R/V Atlantis and R/V Falkor and sent back to Temple University, PA, USA for processing.

BCO-DMO processing notes:

  • Adjusted certain lat and lon values to decimal degrees, with negative values for south and west.
  • Added ISO_DateTime_UTC column
  • Reformated date to YYYY-MM-DD
  • Reformated time to HH:MM
  • Adjusted column names to comply with database requirements

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Data Files

File
tubeworms.csv
(Comma Separated Values (.csv), 180.38 KB)
MD5:b55d8c71c652597904b825712ccc4cdd
Primary data file for dataset ID 806468

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Parameters

ParameterDescriptionUnits
Cruise_numberCruise code # unitless
DiveSubmersible dive # unitless
LocationDive location unitless
LatitudeLatitude of sample - south is negative decimal degrees
LongitudeLongitude of sample - west is negative decimal degrees
DepthDepth sample collected at meter (m)
DateDate sample collected on - format YYYY-MM-DD (in UTC) unitless
TimeTime sample collected at - format HH:SS (in UTC) unitless
Collected_inInstrument/box collected in unitless
Tentative_IDID given on board the ship unitless
DiameterOrganism diameter at tube opening millimeter (mm)
LengthOrganism length to 2 mm millimeter (mm)
PhylumPhylum unitless
ClassClass unitless
OrderOrder unitless
FamilyFamily unitless
GenusGenus unitless
SpeciesSpecies unitless
ISO_DateTime_UTCISO format of Date and Time in UTC (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MMZ) yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm'Z'
NotesThe 4mm note means that the tubeworm was measured down to 4mm instead of 2mm, probably because the root had broken away.   unitless


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Instruments

Dataset-specific Instrument Name
Grab
Generic Instrument Name
Bottom Sediment Grab Samplers
Generic Instrument Description
These samplers are designed to collect an accurate representative sample of the sediment bottom. The bite of the sampler should be deep enough so all depths are sampled equally. The closing mechanism is required to completely close and hold the sample as well as prevent wash-out during retrieval. Likewise, during descent the sampler should be designed to minimize disturbance of the topmost sediment by the pressure wave as it is lowered to the bottom.

Dataset-specific Instrument Name
Bushmaster (BM)
Generic Instrument Name
Bushmaster
Dataset-specific Description
  Original instruments created at Penn State to collect hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. Hydraulic rods are attached to a very fine mesh that is deployed over the tubeworm patch of interest to collect the tubeworms and associated community. Once the assemblage is enclosed, the net is cinched closed using the submersible or ROV manipulator. Like the mussel pot, this allows for quantitative collections of tubeworm communities.
Generic Instrument Description
Bushmaster samplers are original instruments created at Penn State to collect hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. Hydraulic rods are attached to a very fine mesh that is deployed over the tubeworm patch of interest to collect the tubeworms and associated community. Once the assemblage is enclosed, the net is cinched closed using the submersible or ROV manipulator. This allows for quantitative collections of tubeworm communities.


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Deployments

AT42-03_Alvin_Dives

Website
Platform
Alvin
Start Date
2018-10-17
End Date
2018-11-04

AT37-13_Alvin_Dives

Website
Platform
Alvin
Start Date
2017-05-21
End Date
2017-06-08
Description
Collections of seep organisms in sediments and on rocks.

AT42-03

Website
Platform
R/V Atlantis
Start Date
2018-10-17
End Date
2018-11-06
Description
More cruise information is available from Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R):  * https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/AT42-03 * https://doi.org/10.7284/908473

AT37-13

Website
Platform
R/V Atlantis
Start Date
2017-05-20
End Date
2017-06-11
Description
More cruise information is available from Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R): *  https://www.rvdata.us/search/cruise/AT37-13https://doi.org/10.7284/907684


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Project Information

Collaborative research: Quantifying the biological, chemical, and physical linkages between chemosynthetic communities and the surrounding deep sea (Costa Rica Seeps)

Coverage: Costa Rica Pacific Margin


NSF abstract:
If life were to disappear from the deep sea, would we notice? We only have a cursory understanding of this vast region and the connectivity among its communities and the rest of the oceans, and yet the ecosystems of the deep sea have been implicated in the larger function of the global marine ecosystems. We now rely on the deep ocean for food, energy, novel drugs and materials, and for its role in the global cycling of carbon, as well as for supporting services such as habitat creation, nutrient replenishment for shallow waters, and the maintenance of biodiversity. Cold seeps, active areas of the seafloor where methane and other chemicals are released, are key features along the continental margins worldwide. To characterize how methane seep communities interact with the surrounding ecosystems and vice versa, we will study methane seeps off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica in 2017 and 2018. It is the sphere of influence around the seep, both along the seafloor and up into the water column, that we seek to better understand. We will map the structure and the chemistry surrounding these habitats using a novel 3-dimensional framework, combining typical transects with vertical characterizations of the water column just above the seafloor. This will include measurements of methane flux into the water column and changes in the overlying carbonate chemistry and oxygen levels that are critical to our understanding of the effect of warming, oxygen loss and ocean acidification in this region. Within this framework, we will collect seep organisms in sediments and on rocks (including all sizes from microbes to large animals), and transplant some of these from within the area of seep influence to the background deep sea, and vice-versa. Together, these studies will help us to measure the size of the seep sphere of influence, and also demonstrate the role of these seeps within the deep sea and the greater, global, marine ecosystem. We will share this information with a group of teachers during a series of workshops in the San Diego area, at an exhibit at the Birch Aquarium, and through the work of an artist who has worked extensively with marine organisms in extreme environments.

Chemosynthetic ecosystems are inextricably linked to the broader world-ocean biome and global biogeochemical cycles in ways that we are just beginning to understand. This research will identify the form, extent, and nature of the physical, chemical, and biological linkages between methane seeps and the surrounding deep-sea ecosystem. The proposed research builds critical understanding of the structural and functional processes that underpin the ecosystem services provided by chemosynthetic ecosystems. We target a critical continental margin, Costa Rica, where methane fates and dynamics loom large and play out in an setting that reflects many oceanographic stressors. We will use quantitative sampling and manipulative studies within a 3-dimensional oceanographic framework. We will ask what are the shapes of the diversity and density functions for organisms of different size classes and trophic position over the transition from the seep habitat through the ecotone to the background deep sea? Further, we will ask how do depth, dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH and carbonate ion availability, relative rates of fluid flux, and substrate (biogenic, authigenic carbonate, sediments) alter these linkages and interactions with the surrounding deep sea? Evidence for distinct transitional communities and biotic patterns in density and alpha and beta diversity will be quantified and placed in a global biogeographic context. All of these investigations will occur across biological size spectra: for microorganisms (archaea, bacteria, microeukaryotes), the macrofauna, and the megafauna that form biogenic habitats. Our research results will be interpreted in the context of potential effects of global ocean change in the equatorial Pacific to determine how the linkages with the surrounding deep sea will be altered as anthropogenic impacts proceed in the future. 

Related publications:
Levin, L.A., V.J. Orphan, G.W. Rouse, W. Ussler, A. E. Rathburn, G. S. Cook, S. Goffredi, E. Perez, A. Waren, B. Grupe, G. Chadwick, B. Strickrott. (2012). A hydrothermal seep on the Costa Rica margin: Middle ground in a continuum of reducing ecosystems. Proc. Royal Soc. B. 279: 2580-88 doi: 10.1098/rspb.2012.0205

Sahling, H., Masson, D. G., Ranero, C. R., Hühnerbach, V., Weinrebe, W., Klaucke, I., & Suess, E. (2008). Fluid seepage at the continental margin offshore Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 9: doi: 10.1029/2008GC001978



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Funding

Funding SourceAward
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE)

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