Phospholipids in sediments of the deep Arabian Sea ...

• Main Authors: Boetius, Antje, Lochte, Karin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2000
• Subjects: Biogeochemical Fluxes of Matter and Energy in the Deep Sea BIGSET; Arctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.787613; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.787613

Eight different sites from 2300 to 4420 m water depth in the Arabian Sea were sampled for a biochemical quantification of phospholipid concentrations in the sediments. This method serves as a measure of microbial biomass in marine sediments comprising all small-sized organisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa and metazoa. Phospholipid concentrations can be converted to carbon units as an estimate of total microbial biomass in the sediments. The average phospholipid concentrations in the surface sediments (0–1 cm) of the 4 abyssal sites ranged from 7 nmol cm?3 at the southern site (SAST, 10°N 65°E, 4425 m) to 29 nmol/cm**3 at the western site (WAST, 16°N 60°E, 4045 m). The high values detected at the abyssal station WAST exceeded those in the literature for other abyssal sites and were comparable to values from the upper continental slope of the NE-Atlantic and the Arctic. At the four continental slope sites in the Arabian Sea, average phospholipid concentrations ranged from 9 to 53 nmol/cm**3 with the ... : Supplement to: Boetius, Antje; Lochte, Karin (2000): Regional variation of total microbial biomass in sediments of the deep Arabian Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 47(1-2), 149-168 ...