Oases Of Life Research Articles

Geology, morphology and mineralogy of sulfide-carbonate hydrothermal-bacterial structures on the surface of Tessel paleovolcano lava (south coast of Crimea)

Research subject. Sulfide-carbonate hydrothermal-bacterial structures on the surface of Tessel paleovolcano lava. Materials and methods. The structures under study were found during detailed geological works. Petrographic thin sections were studied using an Olympus Bx5 microscope. Carbonate and sulfide samples were examined using an RZMMA-202M scanning electron microscope. Results. For the first time, the contacts of the studied structures with their enclosing siltstones and mudstones were described. The structures are of tubular and flat shapes. In terms of mineral composition, the structures exhibit three zones: central, lateral and that of bacterial overgrowth. The middle part of the central zone features a fluid channel with inclusions of quartz, barite, nakrite, galena, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, pyrite, shells of largefauna, ash and tuff material. Spherulites and microtubular carbonate formations testify to the participation of bacterial and archaean communities in the construction process. The study of carbonates and sulfides confirmed the use of deep fluids by prokaryotes. Conclusion. The main role in the formation of the sulfide-carbonate hydrothermal-bacterial structures under study belonged to the community of prokaryotes and fluids from the depths. The external morphology of the studied structures along with the presence of mineralogical zonality, a fluid channel, oil products, and oases of life with a large fauna indicate the similarity of their formation conditions to those of sulfide-carbonate smokers of the Piip volcano. Some differences in the mineral composition are associated with different depths and fluids of their formation.

Genome Attractors as Places of Evolution and Oases of Life

So far, much effort has been made to understand evolution and life phenomena. However, the more we know, the more new puzzles appear. This article introduces some new approaches to understanding what drives evolution. Organism evolution has been examined using artificial neural networks and a semihomologous approach based on the sequences of cytochrome c. To realize this task, three and four-layer neural networks have been designed and then taught. It has been shown that the four-layer neural network more clearly recognizes evolutionary similarities, usually indicating greater (comparing to the three-layer network) similarities to the organisms that were used to train the neural networks. It has been noted that unified cell bioenergetics allows describing the manner in which the main engine that drives evolution works. Reasons for some diseases have been also interpreted to present considerations in a broader and more holistic view. The presented results point out that the evolution of organisms can be considered as a discontinuous process taking place mainly in genome attractors that define and stabilize organisms.

Springs of the great artesian basin – oases of life in australia’s arid and semi-arid interior

Springs of the great artesian basin – oases of life in australia’s arid and semi-arid interior

Demographic dynamics of the smallest marine vertebrates fuel coral reef ecosystem functioning.

How coral reefs survive as oases of life in low-productivity oceans has puzzled scientists for centuries. The answer may lie in internal nutrient cycling and/or input from the pelagic zone. Integrating meta-analysis, field data, and population modeling, we show that the ocean's smallest vertebrates, cryptobenthic reef fishes, promote internal reef fish biomass production through extensive larval supply from the pelagic environment. Specifically, cryptobenthics account for two-thirds of reef fish larvae in the near-reef pelagic zone despite limited adult reproductive outputs. This overwhelming abundance of cryptobenthic larvae fuels reef trophodynamics via rapid growth and extreme mortality, producing almost 60% of consumed reef fish biomass. Although cryptobenthics are often overlooked, their distinctive demographic dynamics may make them a cornerstone of ecosystem functioning on modern coral reefs.

Microbial Community Structure and the Persistence of Cyanobacterial Populations in Salt Crusts of the Hyperarid Atacama Desert from Genome-Resolved Metagenomics.

Although once thought to be devoid of biology, recent studies have identified salt deposits as oases for life in the hyperarid Atacama Desert. To examine spatial patterns of microbial species and key nutrient sources, we genomically characterized 26 salt crusts from three sites along a fog gradient. The communities are dominated by a large variety of Halobacteriales and Bacteroidetes, plus a few algal and Cyanobacterial species. CRISPR locus analysis suggests the distribution of a single Cyanobacterial population among all sites. This is in stark contrast to the extremely high sample specificity of most other community members. Only present at the highest moisture site is a genomically characterized Thermoplasmatales archaeon (Marine Group II) and six Nanohaloarchaea, one of which is represented by a complete genome. Parcubacteria (OD1) and Saccharibacteria (TM7), not previously reported from hypersaline environments, were found at low abundances. We found no indication of a N2 fixation pathway in the communities, suggesting acquisition of bioavailable nitrogen from atmospherically derived nitrate. Samples cluster by site based on bacterial and archaeal abundance patterns and photosynthetic capacity decreases with increasing distance from the ocean. We conclude that moisture level, controlled by coastal fog intensity, is the strongest driver of community membership.

Early Triassic wrinkle structures on land: stressed environments and oases for life.

Wrinkle structures in rocks younger than the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) extinction have been reported repeatedly in marine strata, but rarely mentioned in rocks recording land. Here, three newly studied terrestrial P-Tr boundary rock succession in North China have yielded diverse wrinkle structures. All of these wrinkles are preserved in barely bioturbated shore-shallow lacustrine siliciclastic deposits of the Liujiagou Formation. Conversely, both the lacustrine siliciclastic deposits of the underlying Sunjiagou Formation and the overlying Heshanggou Formation show rich bioturbation, but no wrinkle structures or other microbial-related structures. The occurrence of terrestrial wrinkle structures in the studied sections reflects abnormal hydrochemical and physical environments, presumably associated with the extinction of terrestrial organisms. Only very rare trace fossils occurred in the aftermath of the P-Tr extinction, but most of them were preserved together with the microbial mats. This suggests that microbial mats acted as potential oases for the surviving aquatic animals, as a source of food and oxygen. The new finds suggests that extreme environmental stresses were prevalent both in the sea and on land through most of the Early Triassic.

The Niger Delta Oil Rich Region: The Paradox of Fascination and Horror

Mankind is threatened by global environmental changes occasioned by man sporadic attempt to alter the design of nature. Man as the master of the earth and space is busy competing against himself in a dark lonely universe where the earth is the only oasis of life. In the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, we witness massive human starvation and poverty, extinctions of plants and animal species and dwindling biodiversity, caused by oil spillage and sweeping biotic destruction, global warming triggered and exacerbated by carbon dioxide, emission from the burning of fossil fuels, depletion of ozone layer by lethal chemical and concomitant bombardment of the earth by cancer causing extra-terrestrial ultra-violent radiation, pollution of air, water, land and life. Man quest to position himself on earth has resulted to the unsustainable discharges of waste gases into the atmosphere and large numbers of species extinctions throughout the world are but two of the most obvious indicators of the increasingly deleterious impact of human kind on the global biosphere. This paper focuses on the relationship between the exploitation of oil in the region and the devastation caused by the exploitation in the environment. It also true to establish how, the fascination of oil presence has resulted to horror and environmental degradation in the region. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v4n1p117

Spring thaw ionic pulses boost nutrient availability and microbial growth in entombed Antarctic Dry Valley cryoconite holes.

The seasonal melting of ice entombed cryoconite holes on McMurdo Dry Valley glaciers provides oases for life in the harsh environmental conditions of the polar desert where surface air temperatures only occasionally exceed 0°C during the Austral summer. Here we follow temporal changes in cryoconite hole biogeochemistry on Canada Glacier from fully frozen conditions through the initial stages of spring thaw toward fully melted holes. The cryoconite holes had a mean isolation age from the glacial drainage system of 3.4 years, with an increasing mass of aqueous nutrients (dissolved organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus) with longer isolation age. During the initial melt there was a mean nine times enrichment in dissolved chloride relative to mean concentrations of the initial frozen holes indicative of an ionic pulse, with similar mean nine times enrichments in nitrite, ammonium, and dissolved organic matter. Nitrate was enriched twelve times and dissolved organic nitrogen six times, suggesting net nitrification, while lower enrichments for dissolved organic phosphorus and phosphate were consistent with net microbial phosphorus uptake. Rates of bacterial production were significantly elevated during the ionic pulse, likely due to the increased nutrient availability. There was no concomitant increase in photosynthesis rates, with a net depletion of dissolved inorganic carbon suggesting inorganic carbon limitation. Potential nitrogen fixation was detected in fully melted holes where it could be an important source of nitrogen to support microbial growth, but not during the ionic pulse where nitrogen availability was higher. This study demonstrates that ionic pulses significantly alter the timing and magnitude of microbial activity within entombed cryoconite holes, and adds credence to hypotheses that ionic enrichments during freeze-thaw can elevate rates of microbial growth and activity in other icy habitats, such as ice veins and subglacial regelation zones.

Poetry as a Framework for Understanding Embodied Experiences of Bipolar Disorder

This paper is about making sense of bipolar disorder. We open with lines from a poem titled “Oasis of Life” by the poet /coauthor of this article which are part of his endeavor to know and tell some of his embodied experience living with bipolar disorder. We then use this poetry as a framework for interpreting stories of others living with/ supporting someone living with bipolar disorder as described by three members – two sisters and their mother – from a family where both sisters and their father have bipolar disorder. These family members stories are treated here as an instrumental casestudy and were collected through in-depth private interviews as part of a qualitative study conducted by the first author to better understand needs of adults who have disability and/or mental health issues and who support close family members with disability and/or mental health issues. Our purpose is to bring together poetry and research data in an exploratory way with the poet, or to use Hornstein’s term, “expert by experience”, sharing in data analysis with the researcher or “expert by training”. From our analysis, we provide an early stage illustration of how poetry may be an effective and unifying mechanism for interpretation and communication of complex embodied experience of bipolar disorder.

Fungal Diversity in Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Ecosystems

Deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems are considered oases of life in oceans. Since the discovery of these ecosystems in the late 1970s, many endemic species of Bacteria, Archaea, and other organisms, such as annelids and crabs, have been described. Considerable knowledge has been acquired about the diversity of (micro)organisms in these ecosystems, but the diversity of fungi has not been studied to date. These organisms are considered key organisms in terrestrial ecosystems because of their ecological functions and especially their ability to degrade organic matter. The lack of knowledge about them in the sea reflects the widely held belief that fungi are terrestrial organisms. The first inventory of such organisms in deep-sea hydrothermal environments was obtained in this study. Fungal diversity was investigated by analyzing the small-subunit rRNA gene sequences amplified by culture-independent PCR using DNA extracts from hydrothermal samples and from a culture collection that was established. Our work revealed an unsuspected diversity of species in three of the five fungal phyla. We found a new branch of Chytridiomycota forming an ancient evolutionary lineage. Many of the species identified are unknown, even at higher taxonomic levels in the Chytridiomycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota. This work opens the way to new studies of the diversity, ecology, and physiology of fungi in oceans and might stimulate new prospecting for biomolecules. From an evolutionary point of view, the diversification of fungi in the oceans can no longer be ignored.

Martian methane hints at oases of life

Martian methane hints at oases of life

Planet Earth – our oasis in space

Planet Earth is unique in our solar system as an abode of life. In contrast to its planetary neighbours, the presence of liquid water, a benign atmospheric environment, a solid surface and an internal structure providing a protective magnetic field make it a suitable habitat for man. While natural forces have shaped the Earth over millennia, man through his technological prowess may become a threat to this oasis of life in the solar system.

Comparisons between Lakes and Seas during the Arctic Winter

Lakes and seas are oases of life in winter, when the land is frozen. Differences between lakes and seas result because the sea has a much higher salinity and much larger size. Thus the frozen sea has a lower temperature, a macroscopic porous ice structure at the water interface, higher current velocities, and discontinuous ice cover compared with frozen lakes. Both systems exhibit complex differential movements of water masses with differing solute content resulting from freezeout distillation. The biological differences resulting from the physical differences include the absence of ice communities, shorter food chains, lower diversity, lower benthic and higher fish biomass, and lack of mammals and birds in lakes compared with seas in winter.