Chemosynthetic contribution to the carbon cycle in abyssal zones of Rio Grande Rise (Southwestern Atlantic Ocean)

• Grant number: 16/16183-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): June 12, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Biological Oceanography
• Acordo de Cooperação: NERC, UKRI
• Principal Investigator: Frederico Pereira Brandini
• Grantee: Camila Negrão Signori
• Host Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50820-7 - Marine ferromanganese deposits: a major resource of E-tech elements, AP.TEM

Abstract

The deep ocean (> 200 m) comprises about 75% of the global ocean, contains more than 98% of dissolved inorganic carbon deposit, hosts around 65% of all pelagic microorganisms and is where most of the remineralization of the organic matter happens. While geochemical measurements bring insights into the ocean carbon cycle at geological scales, our understanding of the C cycle in short periods (100-1000 years) in the deep ocean and the contribution of the microbial communities to the C incorporation, production and export remains poorly understood. Genomic studies of deep-sea microbial communities have identified new genes and metabolic pathways that made possible their survival through chemoautotrophic processes in inorganic substrates, enabling and sustaining life at higher levels of the food chain, and helping in ecosystem functioning as a whole. It is considered that the microbial growth in the deep ocean is mainly supported by organic matter exported from the photic zone, which particles and dissolved organic matter are remineralized in the mesopelagic zone.It is believed that ferromanganese nodules (FeMn) may play an important role in the degradation of organic compounds trapped in the global carbon cycle. These nodes are responsible for a number of abiotic processes, including the degradation of refractory organic compounds in labile low molecular weight organic compounds. When metabolically available, they can stimulate microbial respiration due to their redox potential. Nodes also act as concentrators of metal dications and anionic forms of phosphorus, vanadium, molybdenum and tungsten, many of which are important cofactors for key biogeochemical processes. In this context, there is a need for studies that show the contribution of these nodes to the deep-sea carbon cycle.Therefore, to quantify the incorporation and production of carbon by microbes is critical to understand the function of deep sea ecosystems, and represents a gap in Biological Oceanography. So, a multidisciplinary research is needed involving vertical flows, the suspended organic matter, planktonic dynamics, and regulation by the environmental factors. Metallic nodules are also present in seamounts and abyssal plains of the Atlantic Ocean, which are of great geopolitical and industrial interest for mineral exploration in the future. This project represents an unique opportunity for a new and complex study of the deep-sea carbon cycle and its interaction with surface waters, showing the influence of the surrounding oceanographic features (such as the Rio Grande Rise - ERG, its seamounts and polymetallic nodules, canyons) and comparing data obtained from the North Atlantic and the Pacific. (AU)

Scientific publications

(6)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SIGNORI, CAMILA N.; PELLIZARI, VIVIAN H.; ENRICH-PRAST, ALEX; SIEVERT, STEFAN M.. Spatiotemporal dynamics of marine bacterial and archaeal communities in surface waters off the northern Antarctic Peninsula. DEEP-SEA RESEARCH PART II-TOPICAL STUDIES IN OCEANOGRAPHY, v. 149, n. SI, p. 150-160, MAR 2018. (16/16183-5)

SIGNORI, CAMILA N.; VALENTIN, JEAN L.; POLLERY, RICARDO C. G.; ENRICH-PRAST, ALEX. Temporal Variability of Dark Carbon Fixation and Bacterial Production and Their Relation with Environmental Factors in a Tropical Estuarine System. ESTUARIES AND COASTS, v. 41, n. 4, p. 1089-1101, JUN 2018. (16/16183-5)

BENDIA, AMANDA G.; SIGNORI, CAMILA N.; FRANCO, DIEGO C.; DUARTE, RUBENS T. D.; BOHANNAN, BRENDAN J. M.; PELLIZARI, VIVIAN H.. A Mosaic of Geothermal and Marine Features Shapes Microbial Community Structure on Deception Island Volcano, Antarctica. FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, v. 9, MAY 7 2018. (12/11037-0, 12/23241-0, 16/16183-5)

MONTSERRAT, FRANCESC; GUILHON, MAILA; FERRAZ CORREA, PAULO VINICIUS; BERGO, NATASCHA MENEZES; SIGNORI, CAMILA NEGRAO; TURA, PEDRO MARONE; MALY, MASCIMILIANO DE LOS SANTOS; MOURA, DENISE; JOVANE, LUIGI; PELLIZARI, VIVIAN; et al. Deep-sea mining on the Rio Grande Rise (Southwestern Atlantic): A review on environmental baseline, ecosystem services and potential impacts. DEEP-SEA RESEARCH PART I-OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PAPERS, v. 145, p. 31-58, MAR 2019. (16/24677-8, 17/11884-8, 16/10091-1, 16/16183-5, 14/50820-7)

BERGO, NATASCHA MENEZES; TORRES-BALLESTEROS, ADRIANA; SIGNORI, CAMILA NEGRAO; BENITES, MARIANA; JOVANE, LUIGI; MURTON, BRAMLEY J.; DA ROCHA, ULISSES NUNES; PELLIZARI, VIVIAN HELENA. Spatial patterns of microbial diversity in Fe-Mn deposits and associated sediments in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Science of The Total Environment, v. 837, p. 9-pg., 2022-05-18. (14/50820-7, 16/16183-5)

SIGNORI, CAMILA N.; PELLIZARI, VIVIAN H.; ENRICH-PRAST, ALEX; SIEVERT, STEFAN M.. Spatiotemporal dynamics of marine bacterial and archaeal communities in surface waters off the northern Antarctic Peninsula. DEEP-SEA RESEARCH PART II-TOPICAL STUDIES IN OCEANOGRAPHY, v. 149, p. 11-pg., 2018-03-01. (16/16183-5)