User:Vickeroodle/SandboxSeaFoam

Link to sea spray sandbox: User:Vickeroodle/SandboxSeaSpray

**MHS- Add content from sea foam wiki article to the outline. Connection between the sea spray article and sea foam articles

• Populations of seafoam vary depending on their location and the potential influence of the surrounding marine, freshwater, and/or terrestrial environments. [27]
• Seafoam is a global phenomenon [21]

Formation

**Mihir -- with connection to sea spray formation, schematic

• Agitated seawater with dissolved organic matter from macrophytes and/or phytoplankton results in foam that is generally quite stable. [29]
• It can even form from from terrestrial vegetation [21]
• Some studies of seafoam show that there is an increased abundance when there are high winds and rainfall in the surrounding area.  [27]
• Turbulent or mixing waters aid in the development of nutrient-dense foam that is particularly high in particulate organic matter. [28]
• Phytoplankton and macrophytic algae cells are broken in times of heavy swell, adding to the likelihood of the production of seafoam [29]

Composition

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**Maria

Chemistry and structure

• They are thermodynamically unstable, though some can persist for days.  [21]
• Generally, seafoam contains decomposed organic materials, zooplankton, algae, bacteria, fungi, Protozoans, and plant matter. There is occasionally pollen that occurs seasonally in seafoam which alters its chemistry.   [27]
• There is seasonal variability in the contents of seafoam.  [28]
• In one study, it was found that between 0.05% and 0.16% (dry weight) is organic C, made up of phenolics, sugars, amino sugars, and amino acids.  [28]
• In another study, the composition of seafoam included 22.85% protein (dominant in both fresh and old foam); 10.76% lipids; 3.07% carbohydrates. Low carbohydrate and high protein contents suggest that sugars originally present in mucilage is quickly used up by bacteria. [29]
• Bubbles formed in foam may burst releasing aerosols into the air SEA SPRAY CONNECTION! [21]
• Bubble mediated sea spray formation results in two distinct types of sea spray droplets: jet droplets which pinch off 1-6 droplets at the end of the bubble or film droplets which are released in numbers of 1-100 when bubbles burst [31]

Organic matter

• [Mentioned also in sea spray organic matter section] Surfactants (moving from spray to foam!) are created by aggregation of organic material in the surface ocean, driven by wind and bubble formation [19]
  • OM in sea spray increased dramatically with phytoplankton blooms [19]
• Abundance of various microplanktonic, nanophytoplanktonic, and diatom groups in sea foam [23]
• Druzhkov Study found very high concentration/enrichment of microplankton in sea foams [23]
  • Order of magnitude larger for autotrophic phytoplankton than heterotrophs
  • Diatoms make up the largest portion of foam composition (80.1-96.3% of microalgal biomass according to this study--not total composition, but most of it)

Carbon content

It is thought that carbon in seafoam is primarily derived from vascular plant detritus  [28]

Amino acids

In one example, die-offs of abundant Corophium volutator, a tube-dwelling amphipod, as well as predation on them by migrating seabirds contributed to amino sugars released. The expected seasonality of amino sugars associated with the seasonality of migrating seabirds isn’t measurable, likely due to the rapid metabolism of free amino acids. [28]

Bacteria

Old foam tends to have a higher density of bacteria. In one study, 95% of foam bacteria was of a rod-shaped variety, while surrounding surface water contained only 5% - 10% rod-shaped bacteria; the majority of bacteria in surface water are coccoid in form. [29]

Other

• The boundary layer between the air and ocean surface (surface microlayer, or SML) is a place where materials that will not be absorbed further into the water column gather. Foam bubbles can be coated with or contain these materials which include petroleum compounds, pesticides, and herbicides. [21]

• Include effect of particle size?

Longevity and stability

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• Seawater that contains released dissolved organic material from phytoplankton and macrophytic algae that is then agitated in its environment is most likely to produce stable, longer-lasting foam when compared with seawater lacking one of those components. For example, filtered seawater with added Ecklonia maxima fronds produced foam but it lacked the stability that unfiltered seawater provided. Additionally, kelp fronds that were maintained in flowing water therefore reducing their mucus coating, were unable to help foam form. [29]
• Foams are not thermodynamically stable [18]
• Small particles of Si (associated with diatoms), Ca, and Fe contribute to foam stability. (Eisenreich 1978) [21]
• Different types of salt had varying effects on bubble proximity and stability of foam (Craig 1993) [21]

Unstable or transient foams

Very short lifetime (seconds) [21]

Metastable or permanent foams

Crazy long lifetime as far as foam goes (hours-dayzzzzzz) [21]

Ecological role

**Maria turn into paragraphs

• Energetically, the ecological importance of seafoam largely weighs on the extent that it contains nutrients that can be moved up the food chain. Longer decay times of seafoam result in a higher chance the energy, specifically POM and DOM, is be transported in the marine environment. [29]
• Seafoam can become airborne with an abundance of wind, therefore serving as a mode of transport for materials between marine and terrestrial environments.  [27]
• Foam can be deposited by wave action in intertidal areas and remain there as the tide recedes [28]
• The presence of fungi in seafoam aids in the decomposition of plant and animal remains (Kohlmeyer ‘66).  [27]
• Sea foam is a possible dispersal agent for macroalgae propagules in the intertidal and influences the tidal landscape and plant animal interactions on the microscale [20]

Food source

• In the Bay of Fundy, Corophium volutator, a tube-dwelling amphipod can potentially attain 70% of its nutritional requirements from the sugars and amino acids derived from seafoam. Conversely, some foam was found to be toxic to them, likely due to high levels of phenolics and/or the added presence of heavy metals or pesticides at the seawater’s surface.  [28]
• On the west coast of Cape Peninsula, S. Africa sea foam is an important possible food source [29]

Habitat

• Sea foam as habitat for microorganisms [23]
• Abundance of various microplanktonic, nanophytoplanktonic, and diatom groups in sea foam [23]

Hazards

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[from existing wiki sea foam page]

Where polluted stormwater from rivers or drains discharges to the coast, sea foam formed on adjacent beaches can be polluted with viruses and other contaminants, and may have an unpleasant odor.

If crude oil discharged from tankers at sea, or motor oil, sewage and detergents from polluted stormwater are present, the resulting sea foam is even more persistent, and can have a chocolate mousse texture.

If the foam forms from the breakdown of a harmful algal bloom (including those caused by some dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria), direct contact with the foam, or inhalation of aerosols derived from the foam as it dries, can cause skin irritations or respiratory discomfort.

On rare occasions large amounts of sea foam up to several metres thick can accumulate at the coast and constitute a physical hazard to beach users, through concealing large rocks and voids, storm debris and, in northern New South Wales, there are even anecdotes of sea snakes.

Toxicity

Though foam is not inherently toxic, it may contain high concentrations of contaminants. [21]

Relationship to harmful algal blooms

Foam is a critical wet environment to algal spores where propagules can attach and advect to the substrate and avoid risk of dissemination [20]

• Phaeocystis globosa is an algal species that is considered problematic because it creates foam on beaches associated with algal blooms [30]
  • High biomass accumulation
• Mostly this species is considered a nuisance due to large foam formation that prevents beach-goers from enjoying the beach [30]
• P. globosa blooms are initiated by high nutrient availability, often affiliated with coastal locations with a lot of freshwater runoff, and eutrophication [30]
• Correlation between the development of foam that eventually ends up on beaches and P. globosa blooms [30]
  • Foam formation occurred about 2 weeks after an algal bloom just offshore
  • P. globosa organic matter was decomposing while suspended at sea surface (not observed lower in water column close to sediment) thus contributing to foam formation

Impacts of human activities on sea foam

• Natural gas is transported over long distances as a liquid, usually by sea, liquefied natural gas terminals are storage centers and used for converting from gas to liquid and vice versa [25]
  • Some types of terminals contribute to the production of foams because of the incorporation of sea water in cooling natural gas to LNG
• First experiment showed much greater abundance of heterotrophic prokaryotes (archaea and bacteria) and cyanobacteria in foam produced near the LNG terminal as compared to a control sample of seawater [25]
  • Chemical material from the LNG terminal as evident in the foam is “quickly recycled” by prokaryotes
  • Microbial growth enhanced in foam samples
  • Organisms in the foam are readily able to use the increased amounts of carbon
• Second experiment -- Higher levels of TOC and plankton biomass observed in foam compared to control [25]
  • Was not consistent measurement in foam however, peak observed in biomass and TOC then went down over the course of 48 hrs
  • Foam generated from LNG terminal “strongly influenced C dynamics”, foam was very high in organic C
  • C transferred into the trophic web via uptake by prokaryotes, shifted to grazers
• Take-home message: increase in organic carbon derived from foams is readily used by prokaryotes, stimulating their growth; it is then incorporated into the pelagic food web [25]

Notable occurrences

**Tori add news links, puppies, sea snakes, danger!

• Southern Barents Sea, August 31, 1987 [23]
• There is a notable summer occurrence of sea foam in the North Sea due to the presence of Phaeocystis cf. pouchetii, a phytoplankton species that produces a large quantity of mucilaginous material in the process of primary production. The mucus collects in a dissolved form and easily foams as it is polymeric in structure. There is an observed increase in the phenomenon as levels of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica rise due to anthropogenic input.   [26]
• The water turns reddish-brown. Meters tall. Bätje and Michaelis (1986) [21]
• ** There are a lot more listed in [21]