SGER: Radiometric Dating of Whalebones: A Method for Studying Succession and Persistence of Whalefall Chemoautotrophic Assemblages

SGER：鲸骨的放射性测年：研究鲸落化学自养组合的连续性和持久性的方法

• 批准号: 9902095
• 负责人: Mark Stephens
• 金额: $ 5.01万
• 依托单位: University of Miami
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-02-01 至 2001-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9902095&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Radiometric; Dating; Whalebones; Method

Stephens OCE 9902095The discovery of chemoautotrophic communities living on seafloor whale-fall carcass in the Santa Catalina Basin in 1987 and later at a number of other locations has raised the question about their role and importance for deep-sea biology because these communities bear taxonomic similarities to other deep-sea reducing environments, such as hydrothermal vents. Whale-falls are of biological significance for the following reasons: 1) their potential roles as stepping-stones for sulfophilic species in the deep-sea; 2) they enhance the biodiversity of the deep-sea; and 3) they can provide insights into anthropogenic influences, such as sewage sludge emplacement, on the marine environment.Knowledge of community succession and the persistence times of whale-skeleton chemoautotrophic assemblages is needed to reliably estimate the abundance of whale-fall habitats and to understand the dynamics of the whale-fall communities and their potential roles as stepping stones for sulfophilic species. Time series observations of several communities living on carcasses that were experimentally placed on the seafloor up to six years ago are providing information regarding early succession, but currently there is no method available to accurately estimate the ages of skeletons discovered on the seafloor.This study will develop and apply radiochemical methods for estimating the ages of seafloor whalebone communities. Preliminary measurements performed on samples of a known age yielded calculated ages that are in good agreement with the known bone ages, thus confirming the feasibility of the methods. Further testing of the methods and assumptions will be performed using additional whale bones of known age, including samples from a carcass that was planted for over 5 years on the seafloor. Upon successful establishment of the technique, application to bones from two skeletons discovered on the seafloor (of unknown age) will follow. The dating techniques will be useful for determining the patters of succession and development and the persistence times of whale-fall chemoautotrophic communities..

Stephens OCE 9902095 1987年在圣卡塔利纳盆地和后来在其他一些地点发现了生活在海底鲸鱼尸体上的化能自养生物群，这引起了关于它们对深海生物学的作用和重要性的问题，因为这些生物群在分类上与其他深海还原环境，如热液喷口有相似之处。 鲸群的坠落具有生物学意义，原因如下：1）鲸群作为深海嗜硫物种的踏脚石的潜在作用; 2）鲸群的坠落增强了深海的生物多样性;以及3）它们可以提供对人为影响的深入了解，例如污水污泥的安置，关于海洋环境的知识。关于群落演替和鲸鱼的持续时间的知识-骨架化能自养组合需要可靠地估计鲸鱼坠落生境的丰度，并了解鲸鱼坠落群落的动态及其作为嗜硫物种垫脚石的潜在作用。 对生活在六年前实验性放置在海底的鲸鱼尸体上的几个群落进行的时间序列观察提供了有关早期演替的信息，但目前还没有方法可以准确估计在海底发现的骨骼的年龄，这项研究将开发和应用放射化学方法来估计海底鲸鱼群落的年龄。 对已知年龄的样本进行的初步测量得出的计算年龄与已知的骨龄非常一致，从而证实了该方法的可行性。将使用已知年龄的其他鲸骨对这些方法和假设进行进一步测试，包括从海底种植超过5年的尸体中提取的样本。 在成功建立该技术后，将应用于在海底发现的两具骨骼（年龄未知）的骨骼。 测年技术将有助于确定鲸鱼秋季化能自养群落的演替和发展模式以及持续时间。