HR: 0800h
AN: T31A-0480    [Abstracts]
TI: Understanding the Composition and Distribution of Megafauna at Diffuse Flow Sites in the East Lau Basin Back-Arc Spreading Center
AU: * Podowski, L
EM: elp145@psu.edu
AF: Penn State University, Department of Biology 208 Mueller Lab, University Park, PA 16802 United States
AU: Fisher, C
EM: cfisher@psu.edu
AF: Penn State University, Department of Biology 208 Mueller Lab, University Park, PA 16802 United States
AU: Luther, G
EM: luther@udel.edu
AF: University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies, Lewes, DE 19958 United States
AU: Kim, S
EM: skim@mlml.calstate.edu
AF: Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8782 Moss Landing Rd, Moss Landing, CA 95039 United States
AU: Waite, T
EM: tjwaite@udel.edu
AF: University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies, Lewes, DE 19958 United States
AU: Moore, T
EM: 68512@udel.edu
AF: University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies, Lewes, DE 19958 United States
AU: Zelnio, K
EM: kaz146@psu.edu
AF: Penn State University, Department of Biology 208 Mueller Lab, University Park, PA 16802 United States
AU: Zook, B
EM: cruise@bobzook.com
AF: Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8782 Moss Landing Rd, Moss Landing, CA 95039 United States
AU: Telesnicki, G
EM: gjt10@psu.edu gjt10@psu.edu
AF: Penn State University, Department of Biology 208 Mueller Lab, University Park, PA 16802 United States
AU: Hsu, H
EM: helenhsu@udel.edu
AF: University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies, Lewes, DE 19958 United States
AU: Paschal, A
EM: 34193@udel.edu
AF: University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies, Lewes, DE 19958 United States
AU: Hourdez, S
EM: hourdez@sb-roscoff.fr
AF: Station Biologique de Roscoff, Place G. Teisser, Roscoff, BP74 29682 France
AU: Desbruyères, D
EM: daniel.desbruyeres@ifremer.fr
AF: Centre de Brest de l'IFREMER, Departement Environnement Profond, Plouzane, BP70 29682 France
AB: Ridge 2000 research at the Lau Basin Integrated Studies Site spans a range of scales, from hundreds of kilometers to fractions of a centimeter. Here we report on an interdisciplinary study of the relations between megafaunal distribution and diffuse flow chemistry, conducted in an area of about 30 m². This work was enabled by, and interpretation will be nested within, the results from the three cruises that preceded our field effort. In June 2005, the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason II collected a series of geo-referenced, high-resolution images using the Insite Scorpio digital still camera at the ABE vent site (176°11'29''W, 20°45'47''S) in the East Lau Basin back-arc spreading center. Twenty pictures were mosaicked together at sea, using a MatLab program (courtesy of Tim Shank, Dana Yoerger, Hanu Singh, and Vicki Ferrini of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) to create one seamless image of the biological community covering an area of approximately 30 m². The mosaic was used to guide electrochemical and temperature scans during a subsequent dive to provide data on the concentrations of reactive sulfur species and oxygen, temperature, and pH at 60 different locations within the community. To allow quantification of the biomass within the imaged community and obtain data on smaller and/or cryptic fauna, five area-specific quantitative-samples of representative animal aggregations were collected from within the same area and analyzed. Separate layers for each dataset (imagery, chemistry, temperature, community composition, and biomass) are being created with GIS to visualize and analyze trends in each individual layer, such as the co-occurrence of different megafaunal species and changes in chemical speciation. Overlays and statistical analyses of these layers in GIS are used to elucidate correlations between datasets that will contribute to our ultimate goal of understanding the distribution patterns of the megafauna in this spatially and temporally complex hydrothermal vent environment.
UR: http://www.bio.psu.edu/People/Faculty/Fisher/fhome.htm
DE: 0408 Benthic processes (4804)
DE: 0439 Ecosystems, structure and dynamics (4815)
DE: 0450 Hydrothermal systems (1034, 3017, 3616, 4832, 8135, 8424)
DE: 0456 Life in extreme environments
DE: 3001 Back-arc basin processes
SC: Tectonophysics [T]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005