Sea ice cover, and bottom water and sediment characteristics at stations in the Amundsen Gulf, Canada ...

Seasonal dynamics in the activity of Arctic shelf benthos have been the subject of few local studies, and the pronounced among-site variability characterizing their results makes it difficult to upscale and generalize their conclusions. In a regional study encompassing five sites at 100-595 m water...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Link, Heike, Archambault, Philippe, Tamelander, Tobias, Renaud, Paul E, Piepenburg, Dieter
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2011
Subjects:
IPY
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.817858
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.817858
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Summary:Seasonal dynamics in the activity of Arctic shelf benthos have been the subject of few local studies, and the pronounced among-site variability characterizing their results makes it difficult to upscale and generalize their conclusions. In a regional study encompassing five sites at 100-595 m water depth in the southeastern Beaufort Sea, we found that total pigment concentrations in surficial sediments, used as proxies of general food supply to the benthos, rose significantly after the transition from ice-covered conditions in spring (March-June 2008) to open-water conditions in summer (June-August 2008), whereas sediment Chl a concentrations, typical markers of fresh food input, did not. Macrobenthic biomass (including agglutinated foraminifera >500 µm) varied significantly among sites (1.2-6.4 g C/m**2 in spring, 1.1-12.6 g C/m**2 in summer), whereas a general spring-to-summer increase was not detected. Benthic carbon remineralisation also ranged significantly among sites (11.9-33.2 mg C/m**2/day in ... : Part of the IPY Circumpolar Flaw Lead Study and Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe).Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...