Swept away: Resuspension of bacterial mats regulates benthic-pelagic exchange of sulfur
Grant J and Bathmann UV. 1987. Swept away: Resuspension of bacterial mats regulates benthic-pelagic exchange of sulfur. Science. 236(4807):1472-1474
Filaments and extracellular material from colorless sulfur bacteria (Beggiaton spp.) form extensive white sulfur mats on surface sediments of coastal, oceanic, and even dep-sea environments. These chemoautotropic bacteria oxidize soluble reduced sulfur compounds and deposit elemental sulfur, enriching the sulfur content of surface sediment fivefold over that of deeper sediments. Laboratory flume experiements with Beggiaton mats from an intertidal sandflat (Nova Scotia) demonstrated that even slight erosion of sediment causes a flux of 160 millimoles of sulfur per square meter per hour, two orders of magnitude greater than the flux produced by sulfur transformations involving either sulfate reduction or sulfide oxidation by benthic baceria. These experiments indicate that resuspension of sulfur bacterial mats by waves and currents is a rapid mechanisms by which sediment suflfur is recycled to the water column. Benthic communities thus lose an important storage intermediate for reduced sulfur as well as a high-quality bacterial food source for benthic grazers.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Grant, J.; Bathmann, U.
- Units
- CACO
- Keywords
- Beggiatoa, lithotrophy, Microbes, Sulfur