In the frame of the ARCA project (ARctic: present Climatic change and pAst extreme events) aimed at studying the hydrological cycle in the boreal hemisphere, a first prototype of automatic equipment was specifically designed to perform discrete sampling of waters in the area close to a glacier. The Shark USSV (Unmanned Semi-Submersible Vehicle) designed and built by CNR-ISSIA for the first time collected autonomously samples near the front of the glacier Kronebreen in the Kongsfjorden. Shark was used to tow along a transect and via an adequate rope a small catamaran carrying an Automatic Water Multisampler built by CNR-IAMC. In June 2015, surface water samples were collected by the automatic Multisampler along a transect of 9 stations located from the glacier to the open sea. This research reports the results of the first in situ application of this device related to the study of the distributions of prokaryotes, virus-like particles and nutrients. Viral and prokaryotic abundances were significantly correlated with each other and their spatial distributions were not affected by the presence of the glacier. A low viruses abundance was found compared to the other marine ecosystems and it might be explained by adsorption on particles. The low virus/prokaryotes ratio suggested a lysogenic phase of virus. High nutrient concentrations were detected but they appeared to be not linked to microbial patterns.
Automatic sampling near an Arctic glacier: first microbial results
Azzaro M;La Ferla R;Maimone G;Azzaro F;Caruso G;Crisafi E;Ferretti R;Odetti A;Bruzzone G
2018
Abstract
In the frame of the ARCA project (ARctic: present Climatic change and pAst extreme events) aimed at studying the hydrological cycle in the boreal hemisphere, a first prototype of automatic equipment was specifically designed to perform discrete sampling of waters in the area close to a glacier. The Shark USSV (Unmanned Semi-Submersible Vehicle) designed and built by CNR-ISSIA for the first time collected autonomously samples near the front of the glacier Kronebreen in the Kongsfjorden. Shark was used to tow along a transect and via an adequate rope a small catamaran carrying an Automatic Water Multisampler built by CNR-IAMC. In June 2015, surface water samples were collected by the automatic Multisampler along a transect of 9 stations located from the glacier to the open sea. This research reports the results of the first in situ application of this device related to the study of the distributions of prokaryotes, virus-like particles and nutrients. Viral and prokaryotic abundances were significantly correlated with each other and their spatial distributions were not affected by the presence of the glacier. A low viruses abundance was found compared to the other marine ecosystems and it might be explained by adsorption on particles. The low virus/prokaryotes ratio suggested a lysogenic phase of virus. High nutrient concentrations were detected but they appeared to be not linked to microbial patterns.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
