References 參考資料: [1] Goo Lagoon. (n.d.). Spongebob Fandom. https:// spongebob.fandom.com/wiki/Goo_Lagoon [2] BBC. (2017, November 3). Brine Pools of Death [Video]. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05ll3c0 [3] National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (n.d.). Brine Pools. NOAA Ocean Exploration. https:// oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/multimedia/daily-imagemedia-20200917/ [4] Pappas, S. (2022, October 1). Rare Red Sea Brine Pool Holds Secrets of Past Natural Events. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ rare-red-sea-brine-pool-holds-secrets-of-past-naturaldisasters/ [5] Purkis, S. J., Shernisky, H., Swart, P. K., Sharifi, A., Oehlert, A., Marchese, F., Benzoni, F., Chimienti, G., Duchâtellier, G., Klaus, J., Eberli, G. P., Peterson, L., Craig, A., Rodrigue, M., Titschack, J., Kolodziej, G., & Abdulla, A. (2022). Discovery of the deep-sea NEOM Brine Pools in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea. Communications Earth & Environment, 3, 146. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-02200482-x [6] Eder, W., Jahnke, L. L., Schmidt, M., & Huber, R. (2001). Microbial Diversity of the Brine-Seawater Interface of the Kebrit Deep, Red Sea, Studied via 16S rRNA Gene Sequences and Cultivation Methods. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 67(7), 3077–3085. https:// doi.org/10.1128/AEM.67.7.3077-3085.2001 [7] Oliver, P. G., Vestheim, H., Antunes, A., & Kaartvedt, S. (2014). Systematics, functional morphology and distribution of a bivalve (Apachecorbula muriatica gen. et sp. nov.) from the rim of the ‘Valdivia Deep’ brine pool in the Red Sea. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 95(3), 523–535. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315414001234 15 更令人驚奇的是,在鹽池內部也能找到生命。微生物 群落隨深度不同會有顯著差異 [5]。頂層的微生物主要 是好氧的,包括賦予「海灘」顏色的微生物所棲息的鹽池 邊緣。然而,更深的區域轉為由可在無氧環境下存活的 厭氧微生物佔據。這些微生物具有不同可在低氧環境下 產生能量的特殊代謝能力,例如硫酸鹽還原、甲烷生成 和發酵作用等。 科學家為何關注鹽池? 鹽池不僅奇特,更是科學寶庫。由於不宜動物居住, 海床在沒有穴居動物干擾下保持了原貌,池底的沉積 物就像一頁頁歷史書一樣分層完美。科學家從NEOM 鹽池群提取了一塊具1,200年歷史的沉積物岩芯, 當中記錄了歷史上的洪水、海底崩移(underwater landslides),甚至海嘯 — 包括可能與1995年努韋巴 強烈地震相關的海嘯 [4, 5]。 所以,下次你看到海綿寶寶在酷樂湖衝浪時,請記住 海洋充滿著比虛構故事更荒謬的奇觀。「海中之海」不僅 是動畫裡的玩笑,亦是通往地球過去的窗口,也讓我們 窺探可能存在於我們星球之外的生命模樣。
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