Physicochemical and acoustic conditions of habitats surrounding Kueishan Island, Yilan, Taiwan
Cite this dataset
Chiu, Ling et al. (2024). Physicochemical and acoustic conditions of habitats surrounding Kueishan Island, Yilan, Taiwan [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xnc
Abstract
In the past, research on hydrothermal vents has primarily focused on deep sea, but shallow-water ones have gained increasing attention in recent years. Shallow-water hydrothermal systems experience greater fluctuation due to various epipelagic factors such as insolation, tides, currents, and seasonality. While existing studies have explored geochemical and biological features of hydrothermal vents mostly through snapshot investigations, little is known about their spatio-temporal effects on the surrounding environments. In the present study, we monitored the physicochemical and audio conditions around Kueishan Island, Taiwan. Within a vertical distance of less than 4 km, Kueishan Island possesses both hydrothermal vents and coral ecosystems, making it an ideal platform to address these issues. Our results reveal that the impacts of hydrothermal vents on the ecological habitats surrounding Kueishan Island were not constant, which is attributed to the intermittent discharge of vent fluids. Additionally, we observed a potential connection between hydrothermal venting and earthquake activities, hinting at possible geophysical implications. Overall, our research provides insights into exploring these fascinating environments with a greater mastery of them. Prospectively, long-term, and continuous monitoring could broader our knowledge of hydrothermal vents, including interkingdom evolutionary processes, economic opportunities, and developing strategies for safeguarding these precious natural resources for future generations.
README: Physicochemical and acoustic conditions of habitats surrounding Kueishan Island, Yilan, Taiwan
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xnc
Physicochemical parameters include pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature (Temp), sulfide (S2-), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), pCO2, bicarbonate (HCO3-), and carbonate (CO32-).
Temp (°C), pH, and DO (mg/L) were measured using a multi-parameter meter (Multiline® Multi 3620 IDS, WTW, Weilheim, Germany) equipped with an IDS pH electrode (SenTix® 940, WTW) and an optical IDS dissolved oxygen sensor (FDO® 925, WTW).
TA (μM) was determined following a published method (Sarazin et al. 1999).
Ref: Sarazin, G., G. Michard, and F. Prevot. 1999. A rapid and accurate spectroscopic method for alkalinity measurements in sea water samples. Water Res 33: 290-294. doi: 10.1016/S0043-1354(98)00168-7.
Sulfide content (μM) was measured using a modified spectrophotometric method with a sulfide-sulfur specific reagent containing N, N-Dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine sulfate and ferric chloride in 50% hydrochloric acid (Cline 1969).
Ref: Cline, J. D. 1969. Spectrophotometric Determination of Hydrogen Sulfide in Natural Waters. Limnol Oceanogr 14: 454. doi: 10.4319/lo.1969.14.3.0454.
DIC (μM) was analyzed using an analyzer (AS-C3, Apollo SciTech, Newark, DE, USA) with quantification via a non-dispersive infrared CO2/H2O analyzer (LI-7000, LI-COR, Lincoln, NE, USA). The pCO2 (μatm), HCO3- (μM) and CO32- (μM) were calculated using a CO2SYS module within Microsoft Excel according to DIC, temperature, and pH (Pierrot 2006).
Ref: Pierrot, D., Lewis, E., and Wallace, D. W. R. 2006. MS Excel program developed for CO2 system calculations. ORNL/CDIAC-105a. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.
Acoustic parameters include sound pressure levels (SPLs) in dB re 1μPa at frequencies of < 200 Hz, 200-2k Hz, and > 2 kHz.
Additionally, the earthquake data around Kueishan Island (龜山島) which possesses shallow-water hydrothermal vents are provided.
Due to technical issues, which could be related to sampling equipment, detection tools, and weather conditions, some data were missing and are represented as "n/a."
Description of the data and file structure
Except for seismic data, the data processing sequence is Raw_data, Data_log, Data_matrix structure. Data_matrix structure is obtained by normalizing the values of Data_log. The details are as follows:
In the log file, only the columns named with (log) were transformed to logarithmic scales, and CO32- and S2- were increased by one to avoid issues with zero values.
The matrix structure file contains the matrix structure without rotation for principal component analysis (PCA). The physiochemical and acoustic parameters were normalized to a scale of zero to one according to the minimum and maximum values. There are 150 observations and 12 variables with colunm head.
PERMANOVA file contains the data with PC1 and PC2 components and the factor used for conducting PERMANOVA.
Earthquake file contains the occurance date, latitude (lat), longitude (lon), local magnitude scale (ML), focal depth (km), and the distance (km) to the hydrothermal vents off Kueishan Island.
"n/a" was filled in the column named "Vents lat" and "Vents lon" except for the second row which were used for the calculation of the distance to the vents.
Methods
Seawater samples and audio data were collected and recorded by SCUBA diving at submarine areas surrounding Kueishan Island during the daytime from August 2020 to October 2022.
Seawater samples were collected from six sampling sites surrounding Kueishan Island, including VN (near the vents), VF (about 30 m from the vents), C (CO2 vents), S (south), N (north), and T (tail) sites of Kueishan Island. Physicochemical parameters were assessed, including temperature (Temp), pH value, dissolved oxygen (DO), sulfide (S2-), total alkalinity (TA), and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). The partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2), bicarbonate (HCO3-) and carbonate (CO32-) concentrations were calculated using a CO2SYS module within Microsoft Excel according to DIC, temperature, and pH level.
Audio data were obtained using a SoundTrap recorder (ST300 STD, Ocean Instruments, New Zealand). To capture most underwater sounds from biological and environmental sources, the built-in hydrophone of recorder has a sensitivity of -175 dB re 1 V/µPa and a working bandwidth of 20 Hz to 60 kHz (±3 dB). Based on the median spectrum, we calculated frequency band-specific sound pressure levels (SPLs) by integrating the power spectral densities from frequencies 20-200 Hz, 200-2k Hz, and 2k-20k Hz. For each survey, three 90-sec recording fragments were randomly selected from each site to ensure a consistent sampling effort with the physicochemical data.
Funding
Academia Sinica, Award: AS-CDA-112-L01, Academia Sinica Career Development Award
National Science and Technology Council, Award: NSTC 112-2621-M-019-004