About Lindsey Visser Expertise I would love to help you with your questions relating to oceanography, global warming, marine biology, microbial ecology, and marine botany. I can also help with any questions about taxonomy of marine species. If I cannot answer a question, I will look it up or point you in the right direction.
Experience I have a B.S. in marine biology, and am working on a M.S. in oceanography. I am FDA certified for the bacteriological examination of seawater and shellfish. I have experience in working in a microbial ecology lab, culturing marine phytoplankton, and species identification. I have spent time doing oceanography research at sea aboard a NOAA ship.
Education/Credentials B.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University
M.S. in Oceanography expected 2008 from Texas A&M University
Question QUESTION: Ok two questions- I'm in year 12 studying oceanography in earth and environmental science and I'm just having some issues finding answers to these two questions:
1. Explain how the oxygen supply on the ocean floor is renewed
(is that just the whole ocean conveyor belt thing and thermohaline circulation- not really sure??)
2. Explain how chemicals and wastes can be transported thousands of kilometers from their place of origin
(would that be talking about tides or something else?)
Thanks!
ANSWER: Hi Phoebe
1. oxygen is not generated in the deep ocean floor. What little is there is due to cold, salty oxygen rich waters sinking and then being transported around the world(yes basically thermohaline circulation). It may appear that oxygen is being produced down there because you hear about upwelling regions with lots of dissolved oxygen and nutrients. The oxygen that comes from upwelling is actually just transported water.
2. Chemicals in the water can be used as water mass tracers. They are transported through large scale ocean circulation- tides aren't responsible for large scale transportation. Ex: chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) are chemicals in the atmosphere that were banned about 10 years ago. The surface waters in the N. Atlantic (for example) picked up the CFC's from the atmosphere. This water mass cooled and sank and was transported down the east coast and to the waters around the bahamas. This mass of water retains that chemical signature, and doesnt mix with much with other water masses. when you sample that water (at around 1700m deep) you can track that back to see how long the water took to get there, and how much cfc's were in the atmosphere at the time that water sank. This whole process is due to the ocean conveyor belt, or thermohaline circulation (which is ultimately driven by the sun) Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions
Lindsey
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QUESTION: Another quick question- some things that i read are saying that there is some oxygen being generated in the deep ocean through chemosynthesis from the chemosynthetic bacteria around vents... is that true and would i be right in saying that?
Answer After discussing this with colleagues, i would say that dimolecular oxygen (O2) is not produced by chemosynthesis, but oxides (O) are produced as free radicals that quickly bind to other chemicals (nitrous oxide for example). So basically no, dissolved oxygen (in the O2 form) is not generated through this. Chemosynthetic bacteria utilize certain chemicals in order to produce energy and organic matter for themselves, and the community around them on the hydrothermal vents survive on eating them or using them as symbionts- not from oxygen utlilzation- usually these environments are anaerobic and anoxic. There is a chance i could be wrong, but when you think about it, an obligate anaerobic bacteria only survives without oxygen, so why would it release oxygen into its environment- that would only kill it. Sorry for such a complicated answer, hope that helps
