Karst springs are an essential source of private water supply for about 10% of households in Tennessee. However, these springs, which can be easily polluted, are unregulated. This study, therefore, assesses water quality spatial patterns and water quality rating of roadside springs in northeast Tennessee. Karst spring water samples collected from 50 springs were assessed using EPA Standard methods for pathogens, nutrients, radon, and physicochemical parameters. Springs generally met federal and state standards for physicochemical parameters, 90% of samples contained E. coli, and all samples contained fecal coliform. High E. coli was spatially clustered causing a fecal contamination hot spot on the border of Washington and Sullivan Counties, Tennessee. 60% of springs exceeded radon concentrations of 300 pCi/L. Water quality ratings were very poor or unfit for drinking, with 4% of springs ranked “good”. Therefore, microbial pollution purification procedures are advised before using these springs as a drinking water source.

Sagebrush-dominated ecosystems are being transformed by wildfire, rangeland improvement techniques, and exotic plant invasions. These disturbances have substantial effects on the composition and structure of native vegetation, but the effects on ecosystem C and N dynamics are poorly understood. To examine whether differences in dominant vegetation affect the quantity and quality of plant organic matter inputs to soil, ecosystem C and N pools and rates of plant turnover were compared among historically grazed Wyoming big sagebrush, introduced perennial crested wheatgrass, and invasive annual cheatgrass communities. Since low soil moisture during the summer may inhibit the microbial colonization of plant detrital inputs and result in C-limitations to microbial growth, soils were treated with an in situ pulse of plant detritus prior to the onset of the summer dry-season, and rates of soil C and gross N cycling were compared between treated and untreated soils. Finally, because plant detritus is the dominant form of labile C input to soil microbes over a large portion of the year, the decomposition of 13C-labeled annual grass detritus was used to determine the importance of plant detritus versus soil organic matter as microbial substrate. Results revealed large differences in ecosystem C and N pools, and in the quantity of plant C and N inputs to soil among vegetation types, but differences in soil C and N cycling rates were more subtle. Plant biomass pools were greatest for sagebrush stands, but plant C and N inputs to soil were greatest in cheatgrass communities, such that rates of plant C and N turnover appeared to be accelerated in disturbed ecosystems. Earlier release of plant biomass to soil detrital pools stimulated N availability to a greater extent than C availability relative to untreated soils, and this effect could not be predicted from the C:N stoichiometry of plant detritus. Finally, in situ decomposition of cheatgrass detritus was rapid; however, there was no clear evidence of a time-lag during summer in microbial colonization of recently released plant detritus, and microbial consumption of plant detritus did not result in N-limitations to microbial growth.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Chemical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / A combination of uptake field studies on natural phytoplankton assemblages and laboratory proteomic and physiological experiments on cyanobacterial isolates were conducted investigating the interactions of cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), and phosphorus (P) in marine Synechococcus. Enriched stable isotope field uptake studies of ¹¹⁰CD in the Costa Rica Upwelling dome, a Synechococcus feature, showed that uptake of Cd occurs in waters shallower than 40 m, correlates positively with chlorophyll a concentrations and is roughly equivalent to the calculated upwelling flux of cadmium inside the dome. In laboratory experiments, Synechococcus WH5701 cells exposed to low picomolar quantities of free Cd under Zn deficiency show similar growth rates to no added Cd treatments during exponential growth phase, but show differences in relative abundances of many proteins involved in carbon and sulfur metabolism suggesting a great metabolic impact. During stationary phase, chronic Cd exposure in this coastal isolate causes an increase in relative chlorophyll a fluorescence and faster mortality rates. The interactions of acute Cd exposure at low picomolar levels with Zn and phosphate (PO4³-) were investigated in Synechococcus WH8102, an open ocean isolate. The presence of Zn appears vital to the response of the organism to different PO4 ³- cocentrations. Comparisons with literature transcriptome analyses of PO4 ³- stress show similar increases in relative abundance of PO4 ³- stress response proteins including a PO4 ³- binding protein and a Zn-requiring alkaline phosphatase. A bacterial metallothionein, a Zn-associated protein, appears to be correlated with proteins present under low PO4 conditions. Together, these experiments suggest that the interactions of Cd and Zn can affect Synechococcus and play a role in the acquisition of PO4 ³-. / by Alysia Danielle Cox. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Chemical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis explores the potential of zinc, cobalt, and phosphorus to influence primary production in the subarctic North Pacific, the Bering Sea, and the North Atlantic Ocean. In the North Pacific and Bering Sea, total zinc concentrations were measured along a near-surface transect and in selected deep profiles. Zinc speciation was also measured with a novel anodic stripping voltammetry method, and the results were consistent with previous studies using different methods. The potential for zinc to impact primary production in the North Pacific was demonstrated in a shipboard incubation and by comparing two phytoplankton pigment markers to total zinc and free zinc ion concentrations. In the North Atlantic, total dissolved zinc and cobalt concentrations were measured and compared to concentrations of dissolved inorganic phosphorus and chlorophyll. In some areas of the North Atlantic the concentrations of zinc and cobalt were decoupled.The relationship between cobalt and inorganic phosphorus suggests that cobalt drawdown may be related to a high alkaline phosphatase related demand at low phosphorus concentrations. This trend compliments a shipboard incubation where alkaline phosphatase activities increased after cobalt addition. The presence of measurable alkaline phosphatase activity indicated that the phytoplankton community in the Sargasso Sea was experiencing phosphorus stress. Shipboard incubations generally confirmed this with inorganic phosphorus additions resulting in chlorophyll increases at 4 out of 5 stations. Further, the addition of dissolved organic phosphorus, as either a phosphate monoester or a phosphonate compound, resulted in a chlorophyll increase in 3 out of 3 incubations. This suggests that dissolved organic phosphorus may be an important phosphorus source for phytoplankton in low phosphorus environments and that the ability to use phosphonates may be more widespread than previously recognized. Overall, this thesis adds to our understanding of how the nutrients phosphorus, zinc, and cobalt may influence primary production. / by Rachel J. Wisniewski. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / The sinking flux of particulate matter into the ocean interior is an oceanographic phenomenon that fuels much of the metabolic demand of the subsurface ocean and affects the distribution of carbon and other elements throughout the biosphere. In this thesis, I use a new suite of observations to study the dynamics of marine particulate matter at the contrasting sites of the subtropical Sargasso Sea near Bermuda and the waters above the continental shelf of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). An underwater digital camera system was employed to capture images of particles in the water column. The subsequent analysis of these images allowed for the determination of the particle concentration size distribution at high spatial, depth, and temporal resolutions. Drifting sediment traps were also deployed to assess both the bulk particle flux and determine the size distribution of the particle flux via image analysis of particles collected in polyacrylamide gel traps. The size distribution of the particle concentration and flux were then compared to calculate the average sinking velocity as a function of particle size. I found that the average sinking velocities of particles ranged from about 10-200 m d- and exhibited large variability with respect to location, depth, and date. Particles in the Sargasso Sea, which consisted primarily of small heterogeneous marine snow aggregates, sank more slowly than the rapidly sinking krill fecal pellets and diatom aggregates of the WAP. Moreover, the average sinking velocity did not follow a pattern of increasing velocities for the larger particles, a result contrary to what would be predicted from a simple formulation of Stokes' Law. At each location, I derived a best-fit fractal correlation between the flux size distribution and the total carbon flux. The use of this relationship and the computed average sinking velocities enabled the estimation of particle flux from measurements of the particle concentration size distribution. This approach offers greatly improved spatial and temporal resolution when compared to traditional sediment trap methods for measuring the downward flux of particulate matter. Finally, I deployed specialized in situ incubation chambers to assess the respiration rates of microbes attached to sinking particles. I found that at Bermuda, the carbon specific remineralization rate of sinking particulate matter ranged from 0.2 to 1.1 d', while along the WAP, these rates were very slow and below the detection limit of the instruments. The high microbial respiration rates and slow sinking velocities in the Sargasso Sea resulted in the strong attenuation of the flux with respect to depth, whereas the rapid sinking velocities and slow microbial degradation rates of the WAP resulted in nearly constant fluxes with respect to depth. / by Andrew M. P. McDonnell. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / The distribution and magnitude of marine primary production helps determine the ocean's role in global carbon cycling. Constraining factors that impact this productivity and elucidating selective pressures that drive the composition of marine microbial communities are thus essential aspects of marine biogeochemistry. Vitamin B₁₂, also known as cobalamin, is a cobalt containing organometallic micronutrient produced by some bacteria and archaea and required by many eukaryotic phytoplankton for methionine biosynthesis and regeneration. Although the potential for vitamin B₁₂ availability to impact primary production and phytoplankton species composition has long been recognized, the lack of molecular-level tools for studying B₁₂ production, use and acquisition has limited inquiry into the role of the vitamin in marine biogeochemical processes. This thesis describes the development of such tools and implements them for the study of B₁₂ dynamics in an Antarctic shelf ecosystem. Nucleic acid probes for B₁₂ biosynthesis genes were designed and used to identify a potentially dominant group of B₁₂ producers in the Ross Sea. The activity of this group was then verified by mass spectrometry-based peptide measurements. Then, possible interconnections between iron and B₁₂ dynamics in this region were identified using field-based bottle incubation experiments and vitamin uptake measurements, showing that iron availability may impact both B₁₂ production and consumption. Changes in diatom proteomes induced by low B₁₂ and low iron availability were then examined and used to identify a novel B₁₂ acquisition protein, CBA1, in diatoms. This represents the first identification of a B₁₂ acquisition protein in eukaryotic phytoplankton. Transcripts encoding CBA 1 were detected in natural phytoplankton communities, confirming that B₁₂ acquisition is an important part of phytoplankton molecular physiology. Selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry was used to measure the abundance of CBA1 and methionine synthase proteins in diatoms cultures, revealing distinct protein abundance patterns as a function of B₁₂ availability. These peptide measurements were implemented to quantify methionine synthase proteins in McMurdo Sound, revealing that there is both B₁₂ utilization and starvation in natural diatom communities and that these peptide measurements hold promise for revealing the metabolic status of marine ecosystems with respect to vitamin B₁₂. / by Erin Marie Bertrand. / Ph.D.

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