Mysteries in the mud

Riley Lecture Lisa Levin will present a talk, "Mysteries in the Margin Mud: An exploration of life under stress in oxygen minimum zones and methane seeps," as part of the Department of Oceanography’s student-run 2008 Riley Memorial Lecture Series. The lecture takes place Monday, February 11, 4 p.m. in the CIBC Room, Computer Science Building. It’s free.

Someone who studies life under extreme stress might be expected to spend their days plopped down next to a couch, doing psychiatric assessments. Lisa Levin’s subjects, however, aren’t talking.

Their secrets are locked deeper than most – hundreds of meters below the ocean’s surface, to be exact. They are the creatures that live in the continental margin mud, and they’d be happy to keep their mysteries to themselves.

Freud never saw anything with issues like this.  Permanently hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions occur on over 1,000,000 km2 of the bathyal sea floor, in places these organisms call “home”. Unusual adaptations are necessary for those living in these natural ‘dead zones’. These adaptations provide glimpses at life in an increasingly oxygen-depleted ocean. Sulfide, which is highly toxic to animals, is another challenge.

Yet, against these odds, specialized life abounds. Bright, lacy red cnidarians called Anthomastus ritteri, Neptunia snails that lay towers of eggs; polychaetes, rockfish, and clams are just a few of the bizarre benthic inhabitants.

On Monday, Feb. 11, Dr. Levin will visit Dalhousie University to present a public lecture, "Mysteries in the Margin Mud: An exploration of life under stress in oxygen minimum zones and methane seeps," as part of the Department of Oceanography’s student-run 2008 Riley Memorial Lecture Series.  All are welcome.