Learning Ocean Science through Ocean Exploration Learning Ocean Science through Ocean Exploration NOAA Ocean Exploration and Research Follow up Teacher Professional Development Workshop Slides provided for classroom use

Life in the Deep Sea

Physical Challenges of the Deep Sea Many abiotic factors contribute to zonation in the ocean: Pressure Light Temperature Salinity Dissolved oxygen Mineral nutrients

Pressure 33 ft. of water = 1 Atmosphere of Pressure 1 Atmosphere of Pressure =14.7 Pounds Per Square Inch (PSI) Calculate Pressure at 4,000 feet. Remember sea level is 1 atm.

Pressure at 4,000 feet: 4000 ft /33 = atm 1 atm at sea level = atm atm x 14.7 lbs/in 2 = psi

33 ft. = ~ 10 meters = 1 atmosphere Pressure at 1,219 meters: (1219 m ÷ 10 m/atm) + 1 atm = 122 atm 122 atm x 14.7 lbs./in 2 = psi

Compressed Cups Search: “Compressed cups” “Shrunken cups” “Wig heads” Using the search function on the OE Web site Home page.

Color Spectrum ROYGBIV LOW ENERGY >>>> HIGH ENERGY 700 nm 400 nm

Light penetration in open ocean Depth in meters

Sunlit zone Twilight Zone Midnight Zone PHOTIC/SUNLIGHT ZONE – 200 m Plants thrive; food relatively abundant DYSPHOTIC/TWILIGHT ZONE – 1000 m Dim light can’t support plants, reduced food; 20% of photic zone production; T= 23 >> 4 degrees C (thermocline) APHOTIC/MIDNIGHT ZONE – below 1000m Perpetual darkness; only 5% of photic zone food production; T= 4 degrees C Light Zones

Chemiluminescence: the production of visible light by a chemical reaction. Bioluminescence: a form of chemiluminescence. Fluorescence: the absorption of light at one wavelength and its re-emission at a different wavelength, or color; driven by absorption of light energy vs. chemical energy; produces light only when being irradiated. Phosphorescence: Similar to fluorescence but maintains the glow much longer after the irradiation is removed.

Key: Every light producing process requires a source of energy (chemical, electrical, mechanical, or light). Who has the Light? 2004 Deep Scope Expedition

Bioluminescent Organisms

Characteristics of Twilight Zone Fishes (200m – 1000m) Photophores on ventral surfaces (countershading) Small in size (food scarce) Large mouths relative to body size Unhingeable jaws to swallow large prey Large teeth Many are black or red (invisible) Large eyes (capture available light) Vertical migrators (up to photic zone at night) - Black or silver - Well-developed swim bladders/muscles/bones Non-migrators (remain in twilight zone) - No swim bladder/weak bones/flabby muscles

Shining Tubeshoulder This shiny, black fish has photophores on its belly and a strange tube on each shoulder. These tubes can release a glowing slime. The slime’s glow may distract predatory fishes while the tubeshoulder escapes into the darkness. Grows to 13 inches long.

Gulper Eel

Viperfish Viperfish Chauliodus sp.

Characteristics of Midnight Zone Fishes (1000m +) Single largest habitat on earth! No countershading bioluminescence Fewer photophores: on heads and sides Eyes often absent or reduced Fish sluggish or usually immobile Flabby muscles, weak skeletons Almost all lack swim bladder Huge mouths Small size Black in color

Blackdevil anglerfish

Bristlemouth Bristlemouth Photostomias guernei

Ocean Explorer Web Site 

Fishy Deep-sea Designs! Lesson Plan (on Web site) Mountains in the Sea 2004 Expedition

EP 5 Ocean supports great diversity of life. FC d. Ocean biology provides unique examples of adaptations. FC f. Ocean habitats defined by environmental factors…such as…light…pressure… ocean life is not evenly distributed. Fishy Deep Sea Designs - Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts

Hydrothermal Vents First discovery in Spreading ridge east of Galapagos Islands; divergent plates Water: - Up to 400 degrees C (doesn’t boil, too much pressure) - Highly acidic - Large amounts of hydrogen sulfide (toxic to most animals); sulfides of iron, zinc, copper, and other metals precipitate and disburse as “black smoke” = black smokers May be more than a mile deep - No light - No photosynthesis; chemosynthetically based food web

Hydrothermal Plumes

Hydrothermal Vent Chemistry

Chemosynthesis: The use of energy released by inorganic chemical reactions to produce food (hydrogen sulfide, methane, etc.)Photosynthesis: The use of solar energy to make organic matter. 6CO H 2 O C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O + 3H 2 S C 6 H 12 O 6 + 3H 2 SO 4 Chem energy Light energy

1 – Chemical Energy 2 – Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), Carbon dioxide, and oxygen 3 – Sugar (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) 4 – Sulfuric Acid (H 2 SO 4 ) 1 – Light Energy 2 – Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and water (H 2 O) 3 – Sugar (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) 4 – Oxygen (O 2 )

Photosynthesis 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O + 3H 2 S C 6 H 12 O 6 + 3H 2 SO 4 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2 Chemosynthesis

FOTOSSÍNTESE Carbon: CHydrogen: HOxygen: OSulfur: S H 2 O: Water CO 2 : Carbon Dioxide H 2 S: Hydrogen Sulfide C 6 H 12 O 6 : Sugar O 2 : Oxygen H 2 SO 4 : Sulfuric Acid

EP 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life. FC b. Most life in the ocean exists as microbes. Microbes are the most important primary producers in the ocean. FC g. There are deep ocean ecosystems that are independent of energy from sunlight and photosynthetic organisms. Candy Chemosynthesis – Ocean Literacy Essential Principles & Fundamental Concepts

Let’s Make a Tubeworm - LP 18 Pg. 141 Hydrothermal vent tubeworms Riftia pachyptila

Chemosynthetic clams Galapagos Rift

Giant clams Giant clams Galapagos Rift 2002 Dr. Tim Shank

Inside a Tubeworm from NOVA Web site Tubeworms are animals yet they have no mouth, no stomach, and no intestine. How do they live?

Deep-sea Tubeworm Anatomy

Soft, bright-red structure Brings in oxygen & carbon dioxide from seawater Brings in hydrogen sulfide from vent water Hemoglobin (red color in the plume) transports these 3 ingredients without a violent reaction between them Plume

Mission Control: Muscular - anchors upper portion of worm in tube Provides safe passage for blood from plume to trophosome Generates new tube material Holds the reproductive pores from which the worm releases sperm or eggs during spawning; these combine in the water to make baby tubeworms Harbors simplified versions of the two organs that most closely bind this primitive creature to its fellow animals: the heart and the brain Vestimentum

This organ of dark green-brown spongy tissue is where the real action takes place: ~285 billion bacteria (microbes) per ounce of tissue live symbiotically in special cells. Absorbs the 3 ingredients pumped down from the plume - oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide - and controls their reaction. Microbes use the chemical energy released from the oxidation of sulfide into sulfate to fix carbon dioxide into the organic carbon that nourishes both the microbes and the worm. Trophosome

Imagine having no anus. Well, tubeworms don’t need one because they don’t eat solid food. They take up the dissolved gases, hydrogen sulfide, oxygen and carbon dioxide across their plume. And must excrete the waste product, sulfuric acid across their plume. Hydrothermal vent tubeworms can live several decades. Sulfide in the worm's bloodstream gives the animal its powerful rotten-egg stench. Trunk

Hard parchment-like cylinder, varies in thickness between and even within species of tubeworm Basically like the shell of a lobster or crab, but softer. Grows as the worm grows, providing a safe home for the animal Delicate gill-like plume, which is the tubeworm's only exposed part; can be retracted into the tube at a moment's notice Tube

Like the vestimentum, the opisthosome produces new tube material and helps anchor the worm in its tube and into the seabed Often planted deep within the crevices of a black smoker or vent Giant tubeworm tubes can grow well over a yard long Temperatures at a worm's plume = ~ 35°F (1-2°C) while at its base = ~ 86°F (30°C) Opisthosome

Let’s Make a Tubeworm! Red felt = plume Red pipe cleaner = muscle attached to plume; enables it to retract Black paper = vestimentum Plastic bag = trophosome Shredded paper = bacteria Paper towel tube = trunk White paper = tube Egg carton = opisthosome

LP 22 Pg. 162

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

This Old Tubeworm – LP 19 Pg. 144 VENT COMMUNITIES Very dynamic, dramatic changes over short periods Sudden changes as 400°C water erupts Highly acidic (large amounts of toxic hydrogen sulfide) High growth rates - Riftia Tubeworms may have highest invertebrate growth rates on the planet SEEP COMMUNITIES More consistent Energy rich fluids seeping out of ocean floor due to geology Slow, steady release of methane and hydrocarbons Growth rates?

Mussels at Methane Seeps Gulf of Mexico

Tubeworm “Bush”

Tubeworms stained with methylene blue dye

New Growth! (14 months)

Lamellibrachia Growth Rate

Worksheet Math ABCX Step 1Step 2Step 3 A + B = C 2 C cm = 10 cm 1 yr X yrs 5.13X = = 5.13 cm/yr cm = 10 cm 1 yr X yrs X = 1.95 yrs X =

Answer key

Multimedia Discovery Missions

LP18 and LP 19 - Ocean Literacy Essential Principles & Fundamental Concepts EP 5 Ocean supports great diversity of life FC g. There are deep ocean ecosystems that are independent of energy from sunlight and photosynthetic organisms. Hydrothermal vents…and methane cold seeps rely on chemical energy and chemosynthetic organisms to support life.

 The ocean is largely unexplored.  The ocean is home to more than 95% of life on the planet.  The ocean plays a role in global climate change that we don’t yet understand.  We don’t understand the complexities of interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere.  The ocean provides numerous compounds used in pharmaceuticals.  The ocean belongs to future generations. Reaching Out in New Ways with Respect to Ocean Issues

Web Site: Education Program Manager, Susan Haynes Phone: Lead Program Instructor, Melissa Ryan Phone: Contact Information