Unexpected interaction between ocean currents and bacteria
Unexpected interaction between ocean currents and bacteria
by Birgitte Svennevig for USD News
Odense, Denmark (SPX) Sep 18, 2013
For the first time, researchers have successfully demonstrated an interaction between ocean currents and bacteria: The unexpected interaction leads to the production of vast amounts of nitrogen gas in the Pacific Ocean. This takes place in one of the largest oxygen free water masses in the world - and these zones are expanding. This can ultimately weaken the ocean's ability to absorb CO2.
Three places in the world harbor extensive oxygen free water masses, called Oxygen Minimum Zones. In these zones, microbes produce atmospheric nitrogen gas - the gas that accounts for almost 80 per cent of Earth's atmosphere.
Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark now report to have found the reason behind the huge nitrogen gas production in the largest of the three Minimum Oxygen Zones, located in the Pacific Ocean off Chile and Peru. The nitrogen gas is produced by a steady stream of bacteria who, when they feed, produce lots of nitrogen gas.
"The bacteria flow with an ocean current, that comes from the Equator and is heading towards the South Pole. On their way south the bacteria rid the water of ammonia, which they eat and transform into nitrogen gas in the Oxygen Minimum Zone", explain the scientists, postdoc Loreto De Brabandere and Professor Bo Thamdrup from the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution at the University of Southern Denmark.
More:
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Unexpected_interaction_between_ocean_currents_and_bacteria_999.html
