Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea
Abstract Cold seeps can support unique faunal communities via chemosynthetic interactions fueled by seabed emissions of hydrocarbons. Additionally, cold seeps can enhance habitat complexity at the deep seafloor through the accretion of methane derived authigenic carbonates (MDAC). We examined infaun...
Published in: | Limnology and Oceanography |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lno.10732 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Flno.10732 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lno.10732 |
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crwiley:10.1002/lno.10732 2024-10-13T14:04:55+00:00 Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea Åström, Emmelie K. L. Carroll, Michael L. Ambrose, William G. Sen, Arunima Silyakova, Anna Carroll, JoLynn Research Council of Norway 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lno.10732 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Flno.10732 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lno.10732 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Limnology and Oceanography volume 63, issue S1 ISSN 0024-3590 1939-5590 journal-article 2017 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10732 2024-09-17T04:45:22Z Abstract Cold seeps can support unique faunal communities via chemosynthetic interactions fueled by seabed emissions of hydrocarbons. Additionally, cold seeps can enhance habitat complexity at the deep seafloor through the accretion of methane derived authigenic carbonates (MDAC). We examined infaunal and megafaunal community structure at high‐Arctic cold seeps through analyses of benthic samples and seafloor photographs from pockmarks exhibiting highly elevated methane concentrations in sediments and the water column at Vestnesa Ridge (VR), Svalbard (79° N). Infaunal biomass and abundance were five times higher, species richness was 2.5 times higher and diversity was 1.5 times higher at methane‐rich Vestnesa compared to a nearby control region. Seabed photos reveal different faunal associations inside, at the edge, and outside Vestnesa pockmarks. Brittle stars were the most common megafauna occurring on the soft bottom plains outside pockmarks. Microbial mats, chemosymbiotic siboglinid worms, and carbonate outcrops were prominent features inside the pockmarks, and high trophic‐level predators aggregated around these features. Our faunal data, visual observations, and measurements of sediment characteristics indicate that methane is a key environmental driver of the biological system at VR. We suggest that chemoautotrophic production enhances infaunal diversity, abundance, and biomass at the seep while MDAC create a heterogeneous deep‐sea habitat leading to aggregation of heterotrophic, conventional megafauna. Through this combination of rich infaunal and megafaunal associations, the cold seeps of VR are benthic oases compared to the surrounding high‐Arctic deep sea. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Svalbard Wiley Online Library Arctic Svalbard Limnology and Oceanography 63 S1 S209 S231 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
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English |
description |
Abstract Cold seeps can support unique faunal communities via chemosynthetic interactions fueled by seabed emissions of hydrocarbons. Additionally, cold seeps can enhance habitat complexity at the deep seafloor through the accretion of methane derived authigenic carbonates (MDAC). We examined infaunal and megafaunal community structure at high‐Arctic cold seeps through analyses of benthic samples and seafloor photographs from pockmarks exhibiting highly elevated methane concentrations in sediments and the water column at Vestnesa Ridge (VR), Svalbard (79° N). Infaunal biomass and abundance were five times higher, species richness was 2.5 times higher and diversity was 1.5 times higher at methane‐rich Vestnesa compared to a nearby control region. Seabed photos reveal different faunal associations inside, at the edge, and outside Vestnesa pockmarks. Brittle stars were the most common megafauna occurring on the soft bottom plains outside pockmarks. Microbial mats, chemosymbiotic siboglinid worms, and carbonate outcrops were prominent features inside the pockmarks, and high trophic‐level predators aggregated around these features. Our faunal data, visual observations, and measurements of sediment characteristics indicate that methane is a key environmental driver of the biological system at VR. We suggest that chemoautotrophic production enhances infaunal diversity, abundance, and biomass at the seep while MDAC create a heterogeneous deep‐sea habitat leading to aggregation of heterotrophic, conventional megafauna. Through this combination of rich infaunal and megafaunal associations, the cold seeps of VR are benthic oases compared to the surrounding high‐Arctic deep sea. |
author2 |
Research Council of Norway |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Åström, Emmelie K. L. Carroll, Michael L. Ambrose, William G. Sen, Arunima Silyakova, Anna Carroll, JoLynn |
spellingShingle |
Åström, Emmelie K. L. Carroll, Michael L. Ambrose, William G. Sen, Arunima Silyakova, Anna Carroll, JoLynn Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea |
author_facet |
Åström, Emmelie K. L. Carroll, Michael L. Ambrose, William G. Sen, Arunima Silyakova, Anna Carroll, JoLynn |
author_sort |
Åström, Emmelie K. L. |
title |
Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea |
title_short |
Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea |
title_full |
Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea |
title_fullStr |
Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea |
title_sort |
methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐arctic deep sea |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lno.10732 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Flno.10732 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lno.10732 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
op_source |
Limnology and Oceanography volume 63, issue S1 ISSN 0024-3590 1939-5590 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10732 |
container_title |
Limnology and Oceanography |
container_volume |
63 |
container_issue |
S1 |
container_start_page |
S209 |
op_container_end_page |
S231 |
_version_ |
1812810724929437696 |