INFLUENCE OF SEAMOUNTS AT THE ATLANTIC OCEAN ON MODIFICATION OF THE BIOLUMINESCENCE AND PLANKTON CHARACTERISTICS
Keywords:
Atlantic Ocean, seamounts, bioluminescence, planktonAbstract
The bioluminescence and plankton characteristics in the euphotic layer over 11 seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean were studied. Investigations were carried out along the axis of flow over the mounts. Bathyphotometric measurements (1606 casts) were taken from 2 m to 100 m depths at 87 stations over the various seamounts with a vertical resolution of 1 m. Plankton samples were taken with Juday nets and submersible electric pumps with 36 m3• •h-1 performance. The bioluminescence characteristics varied over seamounts with different geomorphological features. The hydrodynamic gyres, created by the bottom elevations, and the upwelling of water with biogenic elements, also seem to have effects on the quantitative characteristics of the plankton. The largest changes in the structure and intensity of the bioluminescence field were observed in the regions of large geomorphological formations. For example, over mountains at greater depth in the North Atlantic Ocean (Slozhnaya, Mayskaya, Hecate sea mounts) changes were observed between 5 and 16 km from their peaks, while in the regions of comparatively shallow bank, such as Valdivia, changes were seen up to distances of 100 km. The influence of sharppicks sea mounts (Meteor and Irving, Udachnaya bank) on the bioluminescence field and distribution of plankton was not so evident. For example, the effects of the Meteor and Irving mountains were observed only over their peaks, with the intensity of bioluminescence exceeding the background levels by 1.5 to 3 times. The same effect was observed over the Udachnaya bank that was being characterised by higher productivity. In the region of Valdivia bank, which has a depth similar to the Meteor and Irving sea mounts (about 250 m) the bioluminescence intensity, in the upper 100 m layer increased over 20 times if compared with the open ocean.
References
Andriyashev A. P. Some problems of vertical zonality of marine bottom fauna. In: The biological resources of the hydrospere and their use. The biological resources of the World ocean. – Nauka: Moscow, 1979. – P. 117 - 138 (in Russian).
Evstigneev P. V., Bityukov E. P. Bioluminescence of marine Copepoda. - Naukova Dumka: Kiev, 1990. - 140 p. (in Russian).
Georgieva L. V., Rouhiyaynen M. Phytoplankton and its distribution in the regions of seamounts. V.N.Greze (ed), Biooceanological water structure in the regions of seamounts. - Naukova Dumka: Kiev, 1988. - P. 140-149. (in Russian).
Gitelzon I. I., Levin L. A., Utyushev R. N. et al. Ocean bioluminescence. St.-Peterburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 1992. - 238 p. (in Russian).
Gitelzon I. I., Levin L.A., Rudyakov G. A., Utyushev R. N. The estimation of sea bioluminescence by mesozooplankton biomass distribution in the upper layer of the central Atlantic - In: J. W. Hastings, L. J. Kriska & P. E. Stanley (eds). Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence. Molecular reporting with photons / Proceedings of 9th Intern. Symp., Woods Hole, October 1996. - J.Willey & Sons: Chichester, 1997. - P. 169 - 171.
Greze V.N. (ed). Biooceanological water structure in the regions of seamounts. – Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1988. - 208 p. (in Russian).
Kozlov V. F. The models of topographic gyres in the ocean . - Moscow: Nauka, 1983. - 200 p. (in Russian).
Narusevitch, T. F., Tokarev Yu. N.. Phytoplankton and bioluminescence in the Mediterranean Sea in summer // Hydrobiol. J. (Gidrobiologicheskii Jurnal). - 1989. – 25. – P. 10 - 16 (in Russian).
Pontekorvo T. B. Some peculiarities in the distribution of hydrological and biological characteristics in the regions of the Hawaii crest banks // News of the Pacific Ocean Inst. Fish. Ocean. – 1974. – 92. - P. 32 - 37.
Proudman G. On the motion of solid bodies in rotating fluids. - Proc. Roy. Soc. Ad. - 1916. - 2. – P. 408 - 447.
Semina, G. I. & N. Chyong, Phytoplankton of the coastal cyclonic gyre of the Tropical Atlantic. - K.V. Beklemishev (ed). Species composition and distribution of oceanic plankton. – Moscow: Nauka, 1974. – P. 3 - 59 (in Russian).
Taylor G. J. Experiments on the motion of solid bodies in rotating fluids // Proc.Roy.Soc.Ad. - 1923. - P. 104 - 213.
Tokarev Yu. N., Bityukov E. P., Williams R. The bioluminescent field as an index of plankton distributions over sea mounts in the Atlantic ocean // Abstr. paper of the 34-th EMBS. - Ponta Delgada, 1999a. - P. 21.
Tokarev, Yu. N., Williams R., Piontkovsky S. A. Identification of small-scale structure of plankton communities of the Black and Ionian Seas by their bioluminescence characteristics // Hydrobiol. – 1999b. – 393. – P. 163 - 167.
Tokarev Yu.N., Bityukov E. P. , Williams R. et al The water mass influence on the latitudinal distribution of plankton biomass and the bioluminescence field intensity at the eastern part of the Atlantic ocean // Scientific Notes of the Vladimir Gnatyuk State University of Ternopol. Biology Series. - №3(14). - 2001. –С. 165 - 167.
Vasilenko V. I., Bityukov E. P., Sokolov B. G., Tokarev Yu. N. Hydrobiophysical device “SALPA” of the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas used for bioluminescent investigation of the upper layers of the ocean. - In: J. W. Hastings, L. J. Kricka & P. E. Stanley (eds). Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence. Molecular reporting with photons / Proceedings of 9th Inter. Symp., Woods Hole, October 1996. - J.Wiley & Sons: Chichester, 1997. - P. 549 - 552.
Vinogradov M. E., Gitelson I.I., Sorokin Yu. N. The vertical structure of a pelagic community in the tropic ocean // Mar. Biol. – 1970. – 16. – Р. 187 - 194.
