Results of an ex-situ experiment testing the effects of mining-generated sediment plumes on the cold-water octocoral Dentomuricea aff. meteor in the Azores

We report the results of an aquaria-based experiment testing the effects of suspended particles generated during potential mining activities, on a common habitat-building coral species in the Azores, Dentomuricea aff. meteor. Corals were collected from the summit of Condor Seamount (Azores, NE Atlantic) at depths between 185-210 m in August 2014. Coral fragments were maintained in 10-L aquaria and exposed to three experimental treatments for a period of four weeks at the DeepSeaLab aquaria facilities (Okeanos-University of the Azores): (1) control conditions (no added sediments); (2) suspended polymetallic sulphide (PMS) particles; (3) suspended quartz particles. PMS particles were obtained by grinding PMS inactive chimney rocks collected at the hydrothermal vent field Lucky Strike. Both particle types were delivered at a concentration of 25 mg L-1. The putative effects of PMS particles were evaluated through measurements of the coral physiological responses at the levels of the organism (oxygen consumption, ammonium excretion), tissue (bioaccumulation of metals) and cell (enzyme activity and gene expression).

本研究报告了一项基于水族馆的实验结果，旨在测试潜在采矿活动产生的悬浮颗粒对亚速尔群岛常见造礁珊瑚物种——Dentomuricea aff. meteor的影响。2014年8月，研究人员从东北大西洋亚速尔群岛的秃鹰海山（Condor Seamount）顶部185-210米深处采集珊瑚样本。珊瑚碎片被置于10升水族馆中，并在亚速尔群岛海洋大学（Okeanos-University of the Azores）的深海实验室（DeepSeaLab）水族馆设施中接受为期四周的三种实验处理：（1）对照组条件（不添加沉积物）；（2）悬浮多金属硫化物（PMS）颗粒；（3）悬浮石英颗粒。PMS颗粒通过研磨从幸运罢工（Lucky Strike）热液喷口场采集的PMS惰性烟囱岩获得。两种颗粒的投放浓度均为25毫克/升。研究通过测量珊瑚在有机体层面（耗氧量、铵排泄）、组织层面（金属生物累积）和细胞层面（酶活性与基因表达）的生理响应，评估了PMS颗粒的潜在影响。