Mailing List Archive Mailing List Archive
>> Hey All,
Me jake again. Just have one more question. First, currently I'm working on
school project I'm doing on Corals and what threaten them. Does anybody here
have any exprience diving in any polluted areas. Or maybe some pictures on
it. My projects on water pollution and how it colerlates with reef
distruction.
Once again any help would be greatly appreciated,
Jake <<
---------------------------------------
Jake,
Never have dove in anything very poluted but maybe I can throw some helpful
stuff in anyway.
There is an intimate connection between terrestrial forrests and the health
of offshore coral systems. Might want to show how this works in your
project. There have been a couple of articles in magazines about some
related studies in Central America (Belize or Costa Rica ?) and if I can find
them again I'll put you onto them.
It seems that the healthiest coral systems are around islands that have
little if any river systems and small populations such as the Caymans.
Interestingly, I have watched a local impoundment (Lake Lanier) go from a
beautiful lake with 30 foot visibility at the surface to a eutrophicated
sewer in just 15 years of development primarily because of fertilizers used
by homeowners around the lake. I have also seen the Florida Keys go from a
thriving population of creatures of all kinds right up to the shores of the
islands to a virtual desert for 3 miles out from shore. Much of this is
blamed on the development of the islands but also on the situation in the
Everglades - a long way away.
I assume you are aware of the symbiotic relationship between corals and algae
- what effects the algae effects the corals.
Keep in mind that natural systems go through periodic ups and downs with or
without the influence of Man so that not everything is our fault.
=============================
>>Hey,
My names jake and I'm new to the techdiver list. I had a question about this
hydrogen sulfide stuff. I've read about HYD SUL in deep ocen hydrothemal vent
communites and how organisms depend on it for chemosythisis. Has anyone on
this list ever doven in an area where the organisms chemosythisis on hydrogen
sulfide? If so WHERE! And how can I get there? Also what special training do
you have for this type of diving.<<
There is a sinkhole in Mexico called Angelita that has a 10 foot thick cloud
of Hydrogen Sulfide hanging at about 100 feet around the debris cone like the
clouds around Mt. Fuji . The rest of the water, which reaches to at least
170 feet, is clear as glass. I seriously doubt that anyone can tell you
that there are any organisms using this as a resource for chemoautotrophic
metabolism and I don't know if the cloud migrates vertically or not. If it
is relatively stationary and consistent there could be organisms similar to
sulfer or iron bacteria using it and they might be isolated by the chemistry
of the water from other organisms in the sinkhole. Wish I had thought of
this when I was down there - could have been interesting to check out.
In the Bahamas we discovered a large sinkhole off one of the creeks on
southern Andros that had a layer of water from 6 feet to about 15 feet that
was at about 98 degrees F. The rest of the water (above and below this
layer) to 200 ft was closer to 78. In this layer were strands of what
appeared to be bacteria. These looked like strands of egg white and the
microbiologist with us was rather excited about them. We did not find them
in any other (cooler) parts of the water column.
When the biologist returned on a later trip to the area the layer of water
was gone which leads us to believe this layer of hot water was the result of
runoff that later was covered by water moving in with the tides. Though
there may well have been some interesting bacteria in the sinkhole what we
observed may simply have been strands of some kind of protine denatured by
the high temperatures.
It's the hunt, not the kill. Right?
Keep in mind that at geothermal vents there are two sources of energy
present. Energy rich simple chemicals and heat. For some of these
organisms both may be required so that the presence of the chemicals alone in
cooler environments near the surface may not present the same opportunities
for synthesis by similar species.
--------------------------------
As far as I know Hydrogen Sulfide is not dangerous to divers in the
concentrations normally encountered. It smells bad if it gets into your
mask and it will discolor paint and some metals but many divers have been in
the stuff with no ill effects. It is usually encountered in cave systems,
if my memory serves me corectly, where flow and mixing are minimal and
layering due to temperature and chemistry is more likely to occur.
If the concentration were high or in the case of dangerously polluted waters
special equipment and techniques are used to isolate the diver from the water
as much as possible. These would include full face masks and well sealed
dry suits plus a shore based cleaning procedure upon exit similar to what the
Hazardous Materials people in the fire departments do. If it were really
serious some kind of full helmeted dress would be used I'm sure.
There are other specialized orgainisms that use other simple chemicals for
metabolism besides sulfer compounds. Most are bacteria but I think there
might be some metazoans as well (multi-celled organisms).
Since you seem to be interested in this kind of stuff let me point out that
the cells of our bodies are not capable of assimilating anything very
complicated either. Everything we eat must be broken down to simple sugars
and other compounds for delivery to the somatic cells. I suspect that if
these cells were to alow large molecules to enter non-selectively the work
and chemistry of protecting them from invaders and poisons would be much more
complex. As it is, we require a huge genetic and bio-econimic investment in
a digestive system that can isolate useful simple compounds from available
complex stuff. It takes a lot of energy to live on land !
Hope this provides some answers and maybe some questions for future projects
as well.
Chuck
--
Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]