Marine oil snow sedimentation Targeted loci environmental

Increased accumulation rate of oil-associated marine snow and oil mineral aggregates on the sea floor resulted from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill significantly affected the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) ecosystem. Oil-associated marine snow reaches the deep marine seafloor due to its increased settling velocity, and serves a unique flux of labile carbon for microorganisms residing in marine sediments. Long-term evaluation of geochemical parameters, microbial activity, and microbial community structures will unravel the recovery process of marine sediment microbial communities disturbed by marine oil snow deposition. This sequencing effort will allow us to track community change and evaluate how marine snow sedimentation influenced these changes in sediment microbial community composition and function in a long-term perspective. Lead PI, Samantha Joye [e-mail]

深水地平线（Deepwater Horizon, DWH）漏油事件致使海底油关联海洋雪（oil-associated marine snow）与油矿物聚集体（oil mineral aggregates）的堆积速率显著提升，对墨西哥湾（Gulf of Mexico, GoM）生态系统造成了重大影响。油关联海洋雪因沉降速度（settling velocity）增加而沉降至深海海底，为海洋沉积物（marine sediments）中的微生物提供了独特的活性碳（labile carbon）通量。针对地球化学参数（geochemical parameters）、微生物活性（microbial activity）与微生物群落结构（microbial community structures）的长期评估，将阐明海洋油雪沉降所扰动的海底微生物群落的恢复进程。本次测序工作（sequencing effort）将帮助我们追踪群落变化，并从长期视角评估海洋雪沉降如何影响沉积物微生物群落组成与功能的改变。项目首席研究员（Principal Investigator, PI）：萨曼莎·乔伊，联系邮箱：[e-mail]