Abstract
The paper describes a finding of photoautotroph cyanobacteria Synechococcus in deep Adriatic waters during the spring of 2006. The maximum abundance in early May was positioned at 800 m, being of order of the values referred for the surface waters in the Adriatic Sea. The deep abundance maximum has been associated to the fast ventilation of deep Adriatic waters, usually occurring during wintertime strong cooling events. Two processes were detected: (1) deep convection in the South Adriatic Pit (SAP) and (2) density current going downslope. The first process was responsible for bringing the cyanobacteria down to 600-m depth in the area of convection, and the second one triggered the downslope transport of the cyanobacteria to the SAP very bottom. The depletion rate of Synechoccocus cyanobacteria in an extremely hostile environment has been computed to equal about 1 month.
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Acknowledgments
CTD data on sections J, M, and A were collected in the frame of the DART program. We sincerely thank the scientists and crew of r/v Alliance (M and A sections, cruises funded by NURC/NATO) and r/v Urania (section J). Satellite images were processed by the Gruppo di Oceanografia da Satellite and taken from http://gos.ifa.rm.cnr.it website. Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia supported the research through grants 001-0013077-0845 and 001-0013077-1122.
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Vilibić, I., Šantić, D. Deep water ventilation traced by Synechococcus cyanobacteria. Ocean Dynamics 58, 119–125 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-008-0135-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-008-0135-8