Aggregation of marine organic matter by bubbling

Journal of Oceanography volume 76, pages317–326(2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) can be partially converted into particulate organic matter via aggregation. Although surface coagulation by bubbles is known to be an aggregation process, a few studies have tested its efficacy for aggregating natural DOM. In the research described here, we tested surface coagulation by bubbles using natural seawater collected from different locations, and achieved organic matter aggregation (OCagg) at the concentrations up to 0.619 μM. In addition, the test using seawater enriched with nutrient showed that OCagg was 0.559 μM. We also evaluated aggregation in mesocosm through 40 days. The OCagg concentrations increased after nutrient depletion (0.858–1.34 μM), and the OCagg/DOC ratio reached its maximum on day 18 (1.24 ± 0.19%).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

US$ 39.95

Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  1. Alldredge AL, Gotschalk CC (1989) Direct observations of the mass flocculation of diatom blooms: characteristics, settling velocities and formation of diatom aggregates. Deep Sea Res Part I 36:159–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-0149(89)90131-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Batje M, Michaelis H (1986) Phaeocystis pouchetii blooms in the East Frisian coastal waters (German Bight, North Sea). Mar Biol 93:21–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00428651

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Blanchard DC, Syzdek LD (1974) Bubble tube: apparatus for determining rate of collection of bacteria by an air bubble rising in water1. Limnol Oceanogr 19:133–138. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1974.19.1.0133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bratbak G (1987) Carbon flow in an experimental microbial ecosystem. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 36:267–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Carlucci AF, Bezdek HF (1972) On the effectiveness of a bubble for scavenging bacteria from sea water. J Geophys Res 77:6608–6610. https://doi.org/10.1029/JC077i033p06608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Carlucci AF, Williams PM (1965) Concentration of bacteria from sea water by bubble scavenging. ICES J Mar Sci 30:28–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/30.1.28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cartmill JW, Yang SuM (1993) Bubble size distribution under saltwater and freshwater breaking waves. Dyn Atmos Oceans 20:25–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/0377-0265(93)90046-A

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Chin W-C, Orellana MV, Verdugo P (1998) Spontaneous assembly of marine dissolved organic matter into polymer gels. Nature 391:568–572. https://doi.org/10.1038/35345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Czerski H, Twardowski M, Zhang X, Vagle S (2011) Resolving size distributions of bubbles with radii less than 30 μm with optical and acoustical methods. J Geophys Res 116:11. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Deane GB, Stokes MD (2002) Scale dependence of bubble creation mechanisms in breaking waves. Nature 418:839–844. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature00967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Detsch RM (1991) Small air bubbles in reagent grade water and seawater: 1. Rise velocities of 20- to 1000-μm-diameter bubbles. J Geophys Res 96:8901. https://doi.org/10.1029/91JC00484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. DuBois M, Gilles KA, Hamilton JK et al (1956) Colorimetric method for determination of sugars and related substances. Anal Chem 28:350–356. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac60111a017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Engel A, Goldthwait S, Passow U, Alldredge A (2002) Temporal decoupling of carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a mesocosm diatom bloom. Limnol Oceanogr 47:753–761. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2002.47.3.0753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Engel A, Thoms S, Riebesell U et al (2004) Polysaccharide aggregation as a potential sink of marine dissolved organic carbon. Nature 428:929–932. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Gershey RM (1983) Characterization of seawater organic matter carried by bubble-generated aerosols1: bubble-generated aerosols. Limnol Oceanogr 28:309–319. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1983.28.2.0309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gogou A, Repeta DJ (2010) Particulate-dissolved transformations as a sink for semi-labile dissolved organic matter: chemical characterization of high molecular weight dissolved and surface-active organic matter in seawater and in diatom cultures. Mar Chem 121:215–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2010.05.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Hama T, Kawashima S, Shimotori K et al (2012) Effect of ocean acidification on coastal phytoplankton composition and accompanying organic nitrogen production. J Oceanogr 68:183–194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-011-0084-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hama T, Inoue T, Suzuki R et al (2016) Response of a phytoplankton community to nutrient addition under different CO2 and pH conditions. J Oceanogr 72:207–223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-015-0322-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hara S, Koike I (2000) Dynamics of organic marine aggregates: nanometer-colloids to marine snow. In: Handa N, Tanoue E, Hama T (eds) Dynamics and characterization of marine organic matter. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 277–298

    Google Scholar 

  20. He W, Chen M, Schlautman MA, Hur J (2016) Dynamic exchanges between DOM and POM pools in coastal and inland aquatic ecosystems: a review. Sci Total Environ 551–552:415–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Honjo S, Eglinton T, Taylor C et al (2014) Understanding the role of the biological pump in the global carbon cycle: an imperative for ocean science. Oceanography 27:10–16. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2014.78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Ishida N, Sakamoto M, Miyahara M, Higashitani K (2000) Attraction between hydrophobic surfaces with and without gas phase. Langmuir 16:5681–5687. https://doi.org/10.1021/la991146i

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Ittekkot V, Brockmann U, Michaelis W, Degens E (1981) Dissolved free and combined carbohydrates during a phytoplankton bloom in the northern North Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 4:299–305. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps004299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Jackson GA, Burd AB (2015) Simulating aggregate dynamics in ocean biogeochemical models. Prog Oceanogr 133:55–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2014.08.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Johnson BD, Cooke RC (1980) Organic particle and aggregate formation resulting from the dissolution of bubbles in seawater. Limnol Oceanogr 25:653–661. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1980.25.4.0653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Johnson BD, Zhou X, Wangersky PJ (1986) Surface coagulation in sea water. Neth J Sea Res 20:201–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/0077-7579(86)90042-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Kepkay P (1991) Surface coagulation and microbial respiration in response to local advection and sea state in the North Atlantic. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 69:143–147. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps069143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Kepkay PE (1994) Particle aggregation and the biological reactivity of colloids. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 109:293–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kepkay PE, Muschenheim DK, Johnson BD (1990) Surface coagulation and microbial respiration at a tidal front on Georges Bank. Cont Shelf Res 10:573–588. https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-4343(90)90082-W

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Kirchman DL (2018) Processes in microbial ecology, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  31. Koga M (1982) Bubble entrainment in breaking wind waves. Tellus 34:481–489. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1982.tb01836.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Laurenceau-Cornec EC, Trull TW, Davies DM et al (2015) The relative importance of phytoplankton aggregates and zooplankton fecal pellets to carbon export: insights from free-drifting sediment trap deployments in naturally iron-fertilised waters near the Kerguelen Plateau. Biogeosciences 12:1007–1027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Mari X, Burd A (1998) Seasonal size spectra of transparent exopolymeric particles (TEP) in a coastal sea and comparison with those predicted using coagulation theory. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 171:63–76. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps171063

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Matsuoka K (1999) Eutrophication process recorded in dinoflagellate cyst assemblages: a case of Yokohama Port, Tokyo Bay, Japan. Sci Total Environ 231:17–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. McCave IN (1975) Vertical flux of particles in the ocean. Deep Sea Res 22:491–502. https://doi.org/10.1016/0011-7471(75)90022-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. McCave IN (1984) Size spectra and aggregation of suspended particles in the deep ocean. Deep Sea Res Part Oceanogr Res Pap 31:329–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-0149(84)90088-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Monahan EC, Dam HG (2001) Bubbles: An estimate of their role in the global oceanic flux of carbon. J Geophys Res Oceans 106:9377–9383. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JC000295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Mopper K, Zhou J, SriRamana K et al (1995) The role of surface-active carbohydrates in the flocculation of a diatom bloom in a mesocosm. Deep Sea Res Part II 42:47–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/0967-0645(95)00004-A

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Pike SM, Moran SB (1997) Use of Poretics 0.7 μm pore size glass fiber filters for determination of particulate organic carbon and nitrogen in seawater and freshwater. Mar Chem 57:355–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Riley JS, Sanders R, Marsay C et al (2012) The relative contribution of fast and slow sinking particles to ocean carbon export. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 26:1026. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GB004085

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Skop RA, Lindsley WG, Brown JW (1991) Radiotracer studies of surfactant transport to the sea-air interface by submillimeter-size bubbles. Exp Fluids 10:251–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00202457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Skop RA, Viechnicki JT, Brown JW (1994) A model for microbubble scavenging of surface-active lipid molecules from seawater. J Geophys Res Oceans 99:16395–16402. https://doi.org/10.1029/94JC01199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Vagle S, Farmer DM (1992) The measurement of bubble-size distributions by acoustical backscatter. J Atmos Ocean Technol 9:630–644. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1992)009<0630:TMOBSD>2.0.CO;2

  44. Van Oostende N, Moerdijk-Poortvliet TCW, Boschker HTS et al (2013) Release of dissolved carbohydrates by Emiliania huxleyi and formation of transparent exopolymer particles depend on algal life cycle and bacterial activity: E. huxleyi ’s extracellular C release and TEP formation. Environ Microbiol 15:1514–1531. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02873.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Verdugo P, Alldredge AL, Azam F et al (2004) The oceanic gel phase: a bridge in the DOM–POM continuum. Mar Chem 92:67–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2004.06.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Wada S, Hama T (2013) The contribution of macroalgae to the coastal dissolved organic matter pool. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 129:77–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2013.06.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Wan J, Tokunaga TK (2002) Partitioning of clay colloids at air–water interfaces. J Colloid Interface Sci 247:54–61. https://doi.org/10.1006/jcis.2001.8132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Welschmeyer NA (1994) Fluorometric analysis of chlorophyll a in the presence of chlorophyll b and pheopigments. Limnol Oceanogr 39:1985–1992. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1994.39.8.1985

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Zhou J, Mopper K, Passow U (1998) The role of surface-active carbohydrates in the formation of transparent exopolymer particles by bubble adsorption of seawater. Limnol Oceanogr 43:1860–1871. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1998.43.8.1860

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The setting of mesocosm experiment was also helped by S. Kurosawa and K. Takonai. The statistical analysis was supported by Dr. S. Agostini. We also grateful for members in Shimoda Marine Research Center.

Funding

This study was funded by JSPS KAKENHI (16H06382 and 17K20040) and Japanese Association for Marine Biology (JAMBIO).

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Shimoda, Shizuoka, 415-0025, Japan

    Shigeki Wada & Yasuhito Hayashi

  2. Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0005, Japan

    Yuko Omori, Saki Yamashita, Takeo Hama & Yasuhisa Adachi

  3. Faculty of Economics, Dokkyo University, Souka, Saitama, 340-0042, Japan

    Takeo Hama

Authors
  1. Shigeki Wada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yuko Omori
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Saki Yamashita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yasuhito Hayashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Takeo Hama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yasuhisa Adachi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shigeki Wada.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wada, S., Omori, Y., Yamashita, S. et al. Aggregation of marine organic matter by bubbling. J Oceanogr 76, 317–326 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-019-00538-1

Download citation

Keywords

  • DOM
  • POM
  • Aggregation
  • Bubble
  • Phytoplankton
  • Carbohydrates