Bacterial biogeography influenced by shelf–basin exchange in the Arctic surface sediment at the Chukchi Borderland

• Published in: Environmental Microbiology
• Main Authors: Han, Dukki, Nam, Seung‐Il, Ha, Ho Kyung, Kim, Hyoungjun, Sadowsky, Michael J., Lee, Yoo Kyung, Hur, Hor‐Gil
• Other Authors: Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Polar Academic Program, GIST, Basic Research Program
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2015
• Subjects: Arctic; Chukchi Borderland; Chukchi
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.13064; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2F1462-2920.13064; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/1462-2920.13064/fullpdf

Summary It has been known that continental shelves around the A rctic O cean play a major role in the ventilation of the deep basins as a consequence of shelf–basin exchange. In the present study, we found that bacterial assemblage of the surface sediment was different from that of seawater while seawater harboured local bacterial assemblages in response to the A rctic hydrography. This finding suggests that the Arctic seafloor sediments may have distinctive bacterial biogeography. Moreover, the distribution of bacterial assemblages and physicochemical properties in surface sediments changed gradually from the A rctic continental shelf to deep‐sea basin. Based on the results, bacterial biogeography in the A rctic seafloor sediments may be influenced by winnowing and re‐deposition of surface sediments through the sediment gravity flow. The present study offers a deeper understanding of shelf convection and its role for the construction of bacterial assemblages in the A rctic O cean.