207
H.-J. Ceccaldi et al. (eds.), Marine Productivity: Perturbations and Resilience of Socio-ecosystems,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-13878-7_22, © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
1
Introduction
Anthropogenic pressures on the marine
ecosystem are, to date, mostly limited to coastal
zones. Landfi ll, urban effl uent, overfi shing, oil
spills, etc. have most effect on coastal areas.
Global climate change is expected to affect all of
the Earth’s ecosystems, but the greatest threats
are predicted for coastal ecosystems such as coral
reefs and Arctic seashores (IPCC report 2007 ).
Since the deep submergence vehicle (DSV)
Alvin discovered the fi rst hydrothermal vent on
the Galapagos Rift in 1977 (Weiss et al. 1977 ),
hydrothermal vents have been reported in many
deep-sea areas. The biological community
around the hydrothermal vent is remarkable,
because the ecosystem functions independent of
solar energy and has a unique ecological structure based on chemosynthetic bacteria.
In recent years, anthropogenic impacts have
extended to deep-sea areas. In the hydrothermal
area, hydrothermal deposits are formed by sulphides and heavy-metal components settled out
from hydrothermal plumes, which are expected
to provide viable ore resources for gold, silver,
copper, lead, zinc and other heavy metals.
There is an urgent need for environmental
impact assessment of deep-sea mining projects
and for technical improvements to enable the
necessary monitoring of deep-sea ecosystems
(Fig. 1 ).
M. Sasano (*) • Y. Nakajima • J. Yamamoto
National Maritime Research Institute ,
Mitaka , Tokyo , Japan
e-mail: sasano@nmri.go.jp; nakajima@nmri.go.jp;
yamamoto-j@nmri.go.jp
Y. Furushima
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and
Technology , Yokosuka , Kanagawa , Japan
e-mail: furus@jamstec.go.jp
Use of Bio-fl uorescent
Characteristics for Ecosystem
Monitoring on Hydrothermal
Deposits
Masahiko Sasano , Yasuharu Nakajima ,
Joji Yamamoto , and Yasuo Furushima
Abstract
A new technology is necessary for effective monitoring of deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems towards the environmental impact assessment of
marine mining projects. For this purpose, we develop a new deep-sea
observation technique using bio-fl uorescent characteristics. Ultraviolet
(UV)-LED illumination and violet laser illumination are used for fl uorescent video recording of a variety of deep-sea organisms. This study reports
the bio-fl uorescent patterns and colours observed for a variety of deep-sea
organisms and their usefulness for monitoring.
H.-J. Ceccaldi et al. (eds.), Marine Productivity: Perturbations and Resilience of Socio-ecosystems,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-13878-7_22, © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
1
Introduction
Anthropogenic pressures on the marine
ecosystem are, to date, mostly limited to coastal
zones. Landfi ll, urban effl uent, overfi shing, oil
spills, etc. have most effect on coastal areas.
Global climate change is expected to affect all of
the Earth’s ecosystems, but the greatest threats
are predicted for coastal ecosystems such as coral
reefs and Arctic seashores (IPCC report 2007 ).
Since the deep submergence vehicle (DSV)
Alvin discovered the fi rst hydrothermal vent on
the Galapagos Rift in 1977 (Weiss et al. 1977 ),
hydrothermal vents have been reported in many
deep-sea areas. The biological community
around the hydrothermal vent is remarkable,
because the ecosystem functions independent of
solar energy and has a unique ecological structure based on chemosynthetic bacteria.
In recent years, anthropogenic impacts have
extended to deep-sea areas. In the hydrothermal
area, hydrothermal deposits are formed by sulphides and heavy-metal components settled out
from hydrothermal plumes, which are expected
to provide viable ore resources for gold, silver,
copper, lead, zinc and other heavy metals.
There is an urgent need for environmental
impact assessment of deep-sea mining projects
and for technical improvements to enable the
necessary monitoring of deep-sea ecosystems
(Fig. 1 ).
M. Sasano (*) • Y. Nakajima • J. Yamamoto
National Maritime Research Institute ,
Mitaka , Tokyo , Japan
e-mail: sasano@nmri.go.jp; nakajima@nmri.go.jp;
yamamoto-j@nmri.go.jp
Y. Furushima
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and
Technology , Yokosuka , Kanagawa , Japan
e-mail: furus@jamstec.go.jp
Use of Bio-fl uorescent
Characteristics for Ecosystem
Monitoring on Hydrothermal
Deposits
Masahiko Sasano , Yasuharu Nakajima ,
Joji Yamamoto , and Yasuo Furushima
Abstract
A new technology is necessary for effective monitoring of deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems towards the environmental impact assessment of
marine mining projects. For this purpose, we develop a new deep-sea
observation technique using bio-fl uorescent characteristics. Ultraviolet
(UV)-LED illumination and violet laser illumination are used for fl uorescent video recording of a variety of deep-sea organisms. This study reports
the bio-fl uorescent patterns and colours observed for a variety of deep-sea
organisms and their usefulness for monitoring.