Publications by authors named "U Schwarz-Schampera"
Article Synopsis
- The text discusses the growing interest in deep-sea mineral resources, particularly seafloor massive sulphides, and the increasing number of exploration licenses issued in the Indian Ocean.
- It outlines a research project conducted from 2013 to 2018 that aimed to study the megafauna of the Central Indian Ridge and South East Indian Ridge, particularly the non-vent species which were previously under-researched.
- This project resulted in the identification of 218 taxa based on imagery and additional confirmation of 20 taxa through sampling, creating a comprehensive catalogue of megafauna and their distribution in the region.
Article Synopsis
- A novel mesophilic bacterium, strain KaireiS1, was isolated from an inactive chimney at the Kairei hydrothermal vent field in the Indian Ocean, marking it as the only cultured representative of a specific cluster of Deltaproteobacteria.
- This bacterium exhibits a facultative autotrophic lifestyle, capable of growth without organic compounds and utilizing hydrogen as a primary electron donor, while also being able to use other substrates like propionate and lactate.
- Unlike typical sulfate-reducing bacteria found in such environments, which are usually thermophiles, KaireiS1 highlights the potential for microbial sulfate reduction at moderate temperatures in hydrothermal vent ecosystems.
Active hydrothermal vents are small-scale habitats hosting endemic fauna in a well-defined zonation around fluid effluents. The fauna of inactive hydrothermal vents and its relation to active vents and non-vent area is poorly known. Characterizing inactive areas is prerequisite to establish protected areas, especially in the context of potential seafloor massive sulfide mining, which targets inactive sites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo assess the risk that mining of seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) from extinct hydrothermal vent environments has for changing the ecosystem irreversibly, we sampled SMS analogous habitats from the Kairei and the Pelagia vent fields along the Indian Ridge. In total 19.8 million 16S rRNA tags from 14 different sites were analyzed and the microbial communities were compared with each other and with publicly available data sets from other marine environments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA perlite sample representative of an operating mine in Milos was investigated with respect to the type and spatial distribution of water. A set of different methods was used which finally provided a consistent view on the water at least in this perlite. Infrared spectroscopy showed the presence of different water species (molecular water and hydroxyl groups / strongly bound water).
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