Oceanography Chapter 9-12

Bacteria

simple life forms without nuclei

Archaea

simple, microscopic creatures

Eukarya

complex multicellular organisms (plants and animals, DNA in discrete nucleus)

Five Kingdoms

Monera, Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia

Monera

Simplest organisms, single celled (cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, archaea)

Protoctista

Single- and multi-celled with nucleus

Fungi

Mold, lichen

Plantae

Multi-celled photosynthetic plants (surf grass, eelgrass, mangrove, marsh grasses)

Animalia

Multi-celled animals, range from simple sponges to complex vertebrates

Carolus Linnaeus

Developed basis of modern classification of organisms

Taxonomy

systematic classification of organism (physical characteristics, genetic information)

-Kingdom

-Phylum

-Class

-Order

-Family

-Genus

-Species

Classification of Marine Organisms

-Plankton (floaters)

-Nekton (swimmers)

-Benthos (bottom dwellers)

Phytoplankton

Autotrophic - can photosynthesize and produce their own food

Zooplankton

Heterotrophic - relies on food by others

Bacterioplankton

very small, at least half the ocean's photosynthetic biomass, likely most abundant photosynthetic organism

Virioplankton

Smaller than bacterioplankton, not well understood, may limit abundance of other plankton through infection

Macroplankton

large floaters such as jellyfish or Sargassum

Picoplankton

very small floaters such as bacterioplankton

Holoplankton

live entire lives as plankton

Meroplankton

Part of lives as plankton, usually in juvenile or larval stages

Nekton

independent swimmers, most adult fish and squid, marine mammals, marine reptiles

Benthos

most abundant in shallow water

Epifauna - live buried in sediments

Infauna - live buried in sediments

Nektobenthos - swim or crawl through water above the seafloor

Streamlining

important for larger organisms, shape offers least resistance to fluid flow; flattened body, tapering back end

Broadcast spawning

eggs and sperm directly released into seawater

Stenothermal

withstand small variation in temperature (open ocean)

Eurythermal

withstand large variation in temperature (coastal waters)

Cold vs. Warm Water Species

-Floating organisms smaller in warmer seawater

-More appendages in warmer seawater

-Tropical organisms grow faster, live shorter, reproduce more often

-More species in warmer seawater

-More biomass in cooler seawater (upwelling)

Diffusion

High concentration to low concentration; cell membrane permeable to nutrients, waste passes from cell to ocean

Osmosis

Water molecules move from less concentrated to more concentrated solutions

Osmotic pressure

in more concentrated solutions, prevents passage of water molecules

Isotonic

organism's body fluid salinity same as the ocean

Hypertonic

seawater has lower salinity than organism's fluids

Hypotonic

organism's fluids have lower salinity than ocean

Gills

used to extract dissolved oxygen from seawater; exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide directly with seawater, low marine oxygen levels can kill fish, gill structure and location varies among animals

Countershading

dark on top, light on bottom

Deep scattering layer

daily migration of many marine organisms to deeper, darker parts of ocean, dense concentration of organisms creates "false bottom" recorded on sonar readings; provides protection from predators and causes increased vertical mixing of ocean waters

Swim bladder

Adjusts buoyancy and allows fish to regulate depth

Pelagic

open sea; Neritic (<200m) and oceanic, benthic (sea floor) - subneritic and suboceanic

Neritic Province

from shore seaward, all water <200 meters deep

Oceanic Province

depth increases beyond 200 meters

Epipelagic (oceanic province)

only zone to support photosynthesis, dissolved oxygen decreases around 200 meters

Mesopelagic (oceanic province)

organisms capable of bioluminescence common, contains dissolved oxygen minimum layer (OML)

Bathypelagic and Abyssopelagic zones (oceanic province)

75% of living space in oceanic province

Bioluminescence

the ability to biologically produce light; common in mesopelagic and deeper

Euphotic

surface to where enough light exists to support photosynthesis

Disphotic

small but measurable quantities of light

Aphotic

no light

Supralittoral (benthic environment)

transition from land to sea floor above spring high tide line; spray zone

Subneritic (benthic environment)

spring high tide shoreline to 200m, about half the continental shelf

Subneritic Provinces

Littoral - intertidal zone

Sublittoral - shallow subtidal zone

Sublittoral Zone (subneritic province)

Inner - extends to depth where marine algae no longer grow attached to ocean bottom

Outer - inner sublittoral to shelf break or 200 meters

Bathyal (suboceanic province)

continental slope

Abyssal (suboceanic province)

more than 80% of benthic environment, animal tracks in abyssal clay

Hadal (suboceanic province)

below 6000 meters, only deep trenches on continental margins

Ocean Supplies Humans with

Recreational Opportunities

Source of Water

Transportation

Biological Resources

Geological Resources

Pollution

Any harmful substance or energy put into the oceans by humans

Marine Pollution

Harmful to living Organisms

Standard Laboratory Bioassay

Experiment to assess how a particular pollutant impacts marine organisms

Cons of Lab Bioassay

-Does not predict long-term effects of pollution of marine organisms

-Does not account for how pollutant combine with other substances

-Time consuming & organism-specific

Waste Disposal

-Diluting pollutants with huge volume of ocean water

-Long-term effects not known

- Some say its okay, as long as properly disposed and monitored

Main Types of Marine Pollution

-Petroleum

-Sewage sludge

-DDT and PCBS

-Mercury

-Non-Point Source Pollution & Trash

Petroleum

-Commonly called oil

-Liquid made of Hydrocarbons

Oil Spills

-Often from transport accidents

-Some from extraction

-Some from loading/unloading accidents

Exxon Valdez

-March 29,1989

-Spilled into Prince William Sound,AK

-Almost 44 million liters

-Long-term consequences unknown

Exxon Valdez (cont.)

-$2 billion in clean up

-$900 million in restoration

-Surface puddles still found 25 years later

-1000 sea otters

-100,000-700,00 sea birds

Kuwait

-Intentional Dumping of oil into Persian Gulf 1991

-More than 908 million liters

Deepwater Horizon

-Gulf of Mexico

-2010 Explosion of Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform

-world's largest accidental ocean oil spill

-more than 708 million liters

Ixtoc

-took 10 months to cap

-spilled 530 million liters

Petroleum (cont.)

-made of various hydrocarbons

-Contains hydrogen and carbon

-Organic and can be Biodegraded

Toxic Compounds in Petroleum

-Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonns

-Can sicken humans,animals, and plants in small doses

Long term Impacts on Organisms

-Change Gene expression

-Developmental abnormalities

-Decreased embryo survival

Oil in the Ocean

-53% Human sources

-47% Natural seeps

-Most petroleum in oceans are from human activity

Cleaning Oil Spills

-Marine organisms fur or feathers lose insulation properties when covered in oil

- High Fatality rates

Cleaning Oil Spills (cont.)

-Oil initially floats

-Can disperse

-Can be skimmed

-Oil and water mix to form mousse

Bioremdiation

-Use of bacteria and fungi to help clean oil spills

-Creating conditions to stimulate growth of naturally occurring oil-degrading bacteria

Preventing Oil Spills

-Oil Pollution Act of 1990

-Single-hulled tankers barred from U.S. ports, not allowed within 320 km (200 miles) of France and Spain

-Double-hulled tankers

-Redesigning ships

Sewage Sludge (non-petroleum)

-Semisolid material after treatment

-Contains: Human waste,oil,zinc,copper,lead,silver

-Primary treatment solids are allowed to settle and dewater

-Secondary treatment sludge exposed to bacteria-killing chlorine

-No dumping after 1981

-Many exceptions/waivers

DDT & PCBS

-Pesticide DDT

-Industrial Chemicial PCBS

-Widespread in oceans

-Persistent organic polluntants

-toxic

-Long-life,dissolved in seawater

-accumulated in food chain

DDT

-Decline in Bird population.

-thin eggshells

-Banned in U.S. in 1972

PCB

-Liquid coolant and insulation in power transformers

-Also in wiring,paints,caulking,hydraulic oils

-Cause harmful genetic mutations and reproductive issues

DDT & PCBS in environment

-Banned by most but not all countries

-Sink to sea floor bottom

-Pervasive in marine environment

-Found even in Antarctic

Mercury

-Minamata Disease

-Methyl mercury toxic to most living organisms

-Chemical plant in Minamata Bay, Japan, released mercury in 1938

-First reported ecological changes in 1950

-By 1953 humans poisoned

-Neurological Disorder

Bioaccumulation

organisms concentrate pollutant from seawater

Biomagnification

organisms gain more pollutant by eating other contaminated organisms

Non-Point Source Pollution

Poison runoff

Non-Point Source Pollution (cont.)

-Pollution enters ocean from multiple sources

Trash

-Pesticides and fertilizers

-Road oil

Plastics

-Vast majority of marine debris

-80% of marine debris from land sources

-Not readily biodegradable

Affects of Plastic

-Entangle fish, marine mammals, and birds

-Plastic bags choke turtles

-Some plastics attract poisons, e.g., DDT, PCBs

Nurdles

Small pre-production plastic pellets

-Found in ocean and all beaches due to spillage

Microplastics

-Microbeads are in cleaners and scrubbers

ex. facial scrubs, toothpaste

-transport pollutants

-eaten by fish

Laws regarding ocean dumping

-In 1988 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL):

Proposed treaty banning disposal of plastics

Regulating other trash dumping at sea

122 nations ratified by 2005

-Facilities not available for garbage disposal

Biological Pollution

-Non-native species / invasive species

-Originate elsewhere, introduced by humans intentionally or accidentally

-Outcompete and dominate native populations

-Invasive species cause extensive damage annually

Laws Governing Ocean Ownership

-Mare Liberum

Free sea

Assumed fish supply to be inexhaustible

-Territorial sea

De Dominio Maris - 1702

Every country has ownership over 3 mile territorial limit from shore

Distance protected by shoreline cannons

Law of the sea

-United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea

1958, Geneva, Switzerland

Prospecting and mineral mining on continental shelf under control of country owning nearest land.

Second meeting in 1960

-Third Law of the Sea Conference meetings

1973-1982

Law of the sea (cont.)

-New agreement in 1994 provisions

-Eliminate production controls on sea floor mining

-Reduced structure of seabed floor mining organization

-U.S. has permanent political say on deep sea mining provision changes

-Objectionable technology transfer provisions eliminated

-Assured access for future qualified miners

Four Main components

-Coastal nations jurisdiction

370 kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ)

-Ship passage

-Deep-ocean mineral resources

-Arbitration of disputes

shore

the zone that lies between the low tide line and the highest area on land affects by storm waves

coast

extends inland as far as ocean related features are found

coastline

boundary between shore and coast

backshore

part of the shore above high tide shoreline