Detoxification of sulphidic African shelf waters by blooming chemolithotrophs

Gaute Lavik, Torben Stührmann, Volker Brüchert, Anja Van der Plas, Volker Mohrholz, Phyllis Lam, Marc Mußmann, Bernhard M. Fuchs, Rudolf Amann, Ulrich Lass and Marcel M. M. Kuypers ()
Additional contact information
Gaute Lavik: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, D-28359 Bremen, Germany
Torben Stührmann: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, D-28359 Bremen, Germany
Volker Brüchert: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, D-28359 Bremen, Germany
Anja Van der Plas: National Marine Information & Research Centre Ministry of Fisheries & Marine Resources, PO Box 912, Swakopmund, Namibia
Volker Mohrholz: Baltic Sea Research Institute Warnemünde, Seestrasse 15, D-18119 Rostock, Germany
Phyllis Lam: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, D-28359 Bremen, Germany
Marc Mußmann: Vienna Ecology Centre, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Bernhard M. Fuchs: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, D-28359 Bremen, Germany
Rudolf Amann: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, D-28359 Bremen, Germany
Ulrich Lass: Baltic Sea Research Institute Warnemünde, Seestrasse 15, D-18119 Rostock, Germany
Marcel M. M. Kuypers: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, D-28359 Bremen, Germany

Nature, 2009, vol. 457, issue 7229, 581-584

Abstract: Algae that bloom unnoticed Data obtained by RV Alexander von Humboldt in waters off the Namibian coast reveal that an area of about 7,000 km2 of African coastal shelf, covered by sulphidic water, was detoxified by the action of bacteria: the biologically harmful sulphide was oxidized to non-toxic colloidal sulphur and sulphate. Eutrophication of coastal waters, often due to human activity, can lead algal blooms causing severe oxygen depletion and the episodic occurrence of hydrogen sulphide with disastrous consequences for the ecosystem. The discovery that sulphide can be completely consumed by bacteria in subsurface waters, and can thus be overlooked by remote sensing or monitoring of shallow coastal waters, suggests that sulphidic bottom waters on continental shelves may be more common than was thought, so could have an important but previously neglected effect on benthic communities.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07588

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