Research
Research is an integral component of the Bahamas Marine EcoCentre. Our field station located on Little Darby Island, Exuma supports a variety of scientific studies including investigations of the worlds only living marine stromatolites. As stromatolites are a focus for several BME researchers, a ‘Stromatolite‘ page is devoted to this important topic, including a link to over 70 publications from the Research Initiative on Bahamian Stromatolites. Additional studies at the Darby Island Research Station include investigations of uranium isotopes in carbonate sediments, geobiology of salt ponds, high frequency sea level fluctuations, lionfish and damsel fish populations, and infectious sponge disease.
Darby Island Research Station
The Darby Island Research Station houses wet lab facilities, microscopes, computers, and living quarters for ten people. Student interns, local fishermen, yachtsmen and other visitors have an opportunity to interact with international scientists conducting world-class research at the Darby Island Research Station. Inquiries for use of this facility should be submitted using the “Contact Us” page.
Live weather reports from Little Darby Island!
Darby Island Research Station supports a live weather station, which transmits data from a high point (elevation 69 ft) on Little Darby Island. A Vaisala weather station (WXT530) transmits wind, temperature, humidity, precipitation, pressure, and light readings via BTC cell service to the cloud. Data can be viewed at two websites:
Weather Underground
gives present and historical data for wind, temperature, humidity, precipitation, pressure, and light at Little Darby Island.
Wind Alert provides a forecast for Darby Island, in addition to listing current and historical data for wind and temperature.
Little Darby Island
Latitude, Longitude: 23.8552669,-76.2182961
Publications resulting from research conducted at Darby Island Research Station include the following:
Zhao, M., Zhang, Y., Hood, A., Asael, D., Tarhan, L., Reid, R.P., Planavsky, N. Evaluation of shallow-water carbonates as a seawater zinc isotope archive. In review, Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Pogge von Strandmann, P.A.E., Schmidt, D.N., Planavsky, N.J., Wei, G., Todd, C.L. and Baumann, K.H., 2019. Assessing bulk carbonates as archives for seawater Li isotope ratios. Chemical Geology, p.119338.
Zhang, S., Henehan, M. J., Hull, P. M., Reid, R. P., Hardisty, D. S., Hood, A. V. S., & Planavsky, N. J. (2017). Investigating controls on boron isotope ratios in shallow marine carbonates. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 458, 380-393. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.10.059
Romaniello, S.J., Hermann, A.D. and Anbar, A.D. 2016. Syndepositioinal diagenetic control of molybdenum isotope variations in carbonate sediments from the Bahamas. Chemical Geology v. 438, 84-90.
Casaburi, G., Duscher, A.A., Reid, R.P. and Foster, J.S. 2016. Characterization of the stromatolite microbiome from Little Darby Island, The Bahamas using predictive and whole shotgun metagenomic analysis. Environmental Microbiology 18: 1452-1469.
Lombardi, M.R., Burleson, W., Godfrey, J., and Fryburg, R. 2013. An experimental deployment of a portable inflatable habitat in open water to augment lengthy in-water decompression by scientific divers. Marine Technology Society Journal: Diving Technologies & Techniques for the 21st Century. Volume 47, Number 6. November/December 2013. Pp 52-63.
Tarhan, L.G., Planavsky, N.J., Laumer, C.E., Stolz, J.F. and Reid, R.P. 2013. Microbial mat controls on infaunal abundance and diversity in modern marine microbialites. Geobiology. DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12049.
Reid, R.P., Foster, J.S., Radtke, G., Golubic. S. 2011. Modern Marine Stromatolites of Little Darby Island, Exuma Archipelago, Bahamas: Environmental setting, accretion mechanisms and role of euendoliths. In Reitner, J., Quéric, Nadia-Valérie Q., & Arp, G. (eds.) Advances in Stromatolite Geobiology, Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences. Springer Publishing, New York, p. 77-89.
For a pdf file listing over 70 papers from the Research Initiative on Bahamian Stromatolites, click here.
