[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6595\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EDeep-sea trenches contain chemicals and radioactivity\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe evidence lies in tiny small shrimp-like scavengers capable of eating three times their own body weight. Known as amphipods, the millimetre-sized crustaceans live in the deepest areas of the ocean known as the hadal zone, more than 6 000 metres below the ocean surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018They hoover up everything from the seafloor, and then they become themselves very high value food for other animals,\u2019 explained Dr Alan Jamieson from Newcastle University, UK.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA marine ecologist, he examined thousands of amphipod specimens to look for contaminants. What he found alarmed him \u2013 elevated levels of toxic chemicals banned decades ago\u003Cstrong\u003E.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The values were very very high, extraordinarily high actually,\u2019 Dr Jamieson said. \u2018There is some data from crabs that live in paddy fields in China and from the Liaohe river. The ones in the bottom of the Mariana (Trench \u2013 the deepest part of the world\u2019s oceans) were higher than that by orders of magnitude.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe looked for two specific chemicals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs). Both chemicals were used in the 1950s and 60s as things like plasticisers and flame retardants, before being outlawed for damaging animal reproductive systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2018\u003C\/strong\u003EThese things are invented, it is not something you can find in nature, so if these (creatures) have (chemicals) in them, they definitely came from us,\u2019 Dr Jamieson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41559-016-0051\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Efindings\u003C\/a\u003E, published in February, came as a shock, since scientists had long assumed that such remote depths would be pristine and devoid of pollutants from humanity. They could also pose a special danger as they are not easily dispersed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018These places aren\u2019t just looking after themselves, they are actually vulnerable to this stuff,\u2019 Dr Jamieson said. \u2018Once a pollutant goes down the bottom of the Mariana Trench, it can\u2019t come back up, it\u2019s not like if it goes down a river, the river will eventually flush it out.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Jamieson said the fact that such persistent organic pollutants bind to particles and remain at the base of the ocean ecosystem makes plastic pollution in the oceans even more alarming.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPlastic microbeads\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil recently, plastic microbeads (tiny polyethylene pellets) could be used as a component of rinse-off cosmetic products. Such beads are likely to find their way to deep-sea trenches in the future as well.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There is still a kind of disconnect where people think that when something washes down the plughole of the\u0026nbsp;shower that it will magically disappear. It doesn\u2019t. These plastic beads are not going to dissolve and disappear into a magic dimension, they\u2019re going to end up in the sea,\u2019 he said.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Plastic beads are not going to dissolve and disappear into a magic dimension, they\u2019re going to end up in the sea.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Alan Jamieson, Newcastle University, UK\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Jamieson plans to look next for the presence of such microbeads in amphipods. He will also look for heavy metals, which could flush into the sea from the mining industry over decades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESuch ongoing pollution is especially important since amphipods form the base of the ocean decomposition cycle that breaks down matter from the surface. That in turn can affect the balance of oxygen in the ocean as well as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Ronnie Glud is a researcher at the Biological Institute of the University of Southern Denmark. In separate research, he is examining what roles deep-sea trenches play in regulating the chemistry of the oceans as part of a project called HADES, funded by the EU\u0027s European Research Council.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We are trying to put it into a biogeochemical context, so we are trying to understand which microbial and which chemical processes are going on in these deep trenches, and how important they are for the function of the overall ocean,\u2019 explained Prof. Glud.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETurned over\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis team is trying to understand what happens to all the organic material in the ocean that ultimately ends up in the seabed, and to what extent material is either accumulated as sediment or digested and processed \u2013 known as being turned over \u2013 by microbes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018That fraction is what determines the ocean chemistry. For instance, it is that process which regulates the oxygen concentration of the oceans and of the planet over time,\u2019 Prof. Glud said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists don\u2019t precisely understand what is going on deep in the trenches, but his team has proven that bacteria on the sea floor, which are really well adapted to operate under extreme pressure, play a big role in efficiently digesting the materials that end up on the seabed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo get a better understanding, he now plans to explore trenches off the coast of Japan, Chile, and New Zealand. There, the team uses ships to deploy newly developed instrument probes engineered in Denmark to withstand the extreme pressures of the sea floor, over one thousand times that of the atmosphere at sea level. They are then controllable by acoustic pings from the surface. The elaborately crafted probes are necessary to explore the bacteria in situ.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/newsalertsignup\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Subscribe to our newsletter\u0022 height=\u0022222\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/news-alert-final.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Subscribe to our newsletter\u0022 width=\u0022983\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003ESubscribe to our newsletter\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018You cannot just take up a sediment sample at 1 atmosphere of pressure as we have at the\u0026nbsp;surface,\u0026nbsp;because everything is changed. The thermodynamics are changed, the microbes will not survive,\u2019 Prof. Glud said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding the microbial balance is important because they are able to trap carbon from the atmosphere in sediments, and over a geologic timescale that affects the balance of CO2 to oxygen.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We eat a leaf, a salad, and the salad was produced by (turning) CO2 into biomass and producing oxygen, and then when we eat that salad, we use that oxygen to burn it off again, and we reemit the CO2, so it\u2019s a closed cycling. But if that salad ends up somewhere it\u2019s never eaten, deep in the seabed for instance, it affects the balance between how much oxygen is available in the ocean and in the atmosphere of the planet,\u2019 said Prof. Glud.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis own findings have also shown that the trenches are not as isolated as once thought.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In the Japan Trench in 2011 after the big earthquake\u2026 four months after the tsunami disaster, we found radio-nuclear products from the Fukushima nuclear power plant,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe HADES team plans to explore its first trench in December, and hopes to have data three months later.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIf you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-a47s8ki-dp6dqfihykhnihxwhykbekpw9m70g4d-wzc\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-a47s8Ki-DP6DqfIhykhnihXWHYKbEKpW9M70g4D_WZc\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]