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posted by chromas on Monday July 22 2019, @08:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the little-bugs-have-lesser-bugs-upon-their-backs-to-bite-'em dept.

Scientists have confirmed that viruses can kill marine algae called diatoms and that diatom die-offs near the ocean surface may provide nutrients and organic matter for recycling by other algae, according to a Rutgers-led study.

The study in the journal Nature Microbiology[$] also revealed that environmental conditions can accelerate diatom mortality from viral infection, which is important for understanding how diatoms influence carbon cycling and respond to changes in the oceans, including warming waters from climate change.

Diatoms, which are single-celled algae that generate about 20 percent of the Earth's oxygen, help store carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, in the oceans.

[...] Diatoms take up dissolved silicon from the environment and turn it into glass for their cell walls. But most of the surface waters where diatoms live have low silicon levels, so these findings suggest viral infection may play an important role in controlling diatom populations globally.


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  • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Monday July 22 2019, @11:13PM (3 children)

    by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 22 2019, @11:13PM (#870125) Journal

    Would increasing the levels of dissolved silicon increase diatom growth and subsequent carbon sequestration?

    Clarifying the question, is it a strategy that could impact the big number, Average Global CO2 ppm, in a meaningful way?

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Tuesday July 23 2019, @12:53AM (2 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 23 2019, @12:53AM (#870152) Journal

      Would increasing the levels of dissolved silicon increase diatom growth and subsequent carbon sequestration?

      It might [wikipedia.org], considering that:

      In the uppermost water column the surface ocean is undersaturated with respect to dissolved silica, except for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current south of 55°S. The dissolved silica concentration increases with increasing water depth, ...

      It is likely that the undersaturation of near-surface waters is an effect of the diatoms consuming dissolved silica faster than the diffusion from the deeper waters can happen.

      However, I don't think that dropping silica in the oceans is a... mmm... solution to speed up carbon sequestration (since maximum solubility of silica is about 2 mmol/L = 120mg/L at ambient temperatures, anything above it will just precipitate as SiO2). If it comes to that, I believe that simply pumping water from depth to surface may be better in terms of energy efficiency.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday July 23 2019, @03:32AM (1 child)

        by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 23 2019, @03:32AM (#870198) Journal

        I believe that simply pumping water from depth to surface may be better in terms of energy efficiency.

        I read a book once that proposed (a bunch of crazy things including) pumping water from the deep ocean and using the temperature differential between it and surface water for energy generation. At the time I wrote it off, but maybe I should dig around and find it. IIRC the chap wanted to use this to power independent islands that farmed the sea and set up some kind of eco-utopia.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday July 23 2019, @03:45AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 23 2019, @03:45AM (#870201) Journal

          I read a book once that proposed (a bunch of crazy things including) pumping water from the deep ocean... At the time I wrote it off, but maybe I should dig around and find it.

          Meh, take it with a grain of law of unintended consequences [wikipedia.org], with a system so complex as the Earth such consequences are bound to happen.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 23 2019, @12:50AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 23 2019, @12:50AM (#870151)

    other stuff you can find at the ocean bottom: complete article of paywalled sites, obviously ingested, digested and pooped out by submittter.
    in the future, please attach a floater so not every single interested arm chair scientist has to dive deep into his/her pockets.
    there seems to be a onion somewhere that curates "once digested" poop articles.

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