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，在圣塔卡塔琳娜盆地的海底鲸鱼倒下尸体上发现化学自动营养的社区，后来在其他许多地方发现了有关深水生物学的作用和重要性，因为这些社区对这些社区具有与分类法的相似性，其他深海还原环境，例如热液通风孔。 由于以下原因，鲸鱼往下具有生物学意义：1）它们作为深海中硫基物种的垫脚石的潜在作用； 2）它们增强了深海的生物多样性； 3）他们可以提供有关人类影响的洞察力，例如污泥污泥，对海洋环境的了解。社区继任和鲸鱼 - 骨骼化学自我养分的持久时间的了解是需要可靠地估计的鲸鱼饮食和捕鲸空间的丰富性以及了解鲸鱼 - 腹部社区的动态及其作为硫基物种的垫脚石的潜在作用。 居住在尸体上的几个社区的时间序列观察，这些社区在六年前的实验中放置在海底上，这提供了有关早期继承的信息，但目前尚无方法可以准确估算海底上发现的骨骼的年龄。开发和应用放射化学方法来估计海底鲸骨社区的年龄。 对已知年龄的样品进行的初步测量产生了与已知骨骼年龄非常吻合的计算年龄，从而证实了方法的可行性。将使用已知年龄的其他鲸鱼骨头进行进一步的方法和假设，包括在海底种植超过5年的尸体的样品。 成功建立该技术后，将随后在海底发现的两个骨骼中应用骨骼。 约会技术将有助于确定继承和发展的模式以及鲸鱼倒化学自动营养社区的持续时间。