Water and Structure: Microbial reefs in the Black Sea

วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 8 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2555

Microbial reefs in the Black Sea

At the continental shelf edge west of the Crimea peninsula, microbes build up reef-like structures in the anoxic waters of the Black Sea. Oxygen and light are absent at these water depths and the main energy source for these microbial communities is methane. Gas bubble streams flow through and escape at the top of the chimneys. Video footage taken by ROV Quest during the MICROHAB cruise aboard RV Meteor, 2007. Copyright MARUM/Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology Microhab METEOR M72/2.