Epibenthic macrofauna abundance during RSS James Clark Ross cruise JR144, South Sandwich arc ...

• Main Authors: Kaiser, Stefanie, Barnes, David K A, Linse, Katrin, Brandt, Angelika
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2008
• Subjects: International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; Antarc*; Antarctic; International Polar Year; Southern Ocean; Southern Thule
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.811814; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.811814

The remote South Sandwich arc is an archipelago of small volcanic islands and seamounts entirely surrounded by deep water and about 600 km away from the closest island, South Georgia. As some of the youngest islands (< 5 m.y.) in the Southern Ocean they are ideal for studying colonization processes of the seabed by benthic fauna, but are rarely investigated because of remoteness and extreme weather. The current study attempted to quantify the richness and abundance of the epibenthic macrofauna around the Southern Thule group by taking five epibenthic sledge samples along a depth transect including three shelf (one at 300 m and two at 500 m) and two slope stations (1000 and 1500 m). Our aim was to investigate higher taxon richness and community composition in an isolated Antarctic locality, since recent volcanic eruptions between 1964 and 1997. We examined patterns across all epibenthic macrofauna at phylum and class levels, and investigated trends in some model groups of crustaceans to order and family ... : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...