(Table 1) Sympagic meiofauna and amphipods inhabiting the meltponds in the Central Arctic sampled during POLARSTERN cruise ARK-XXII/2 ...

• Main Authors: Kramer, Maike, Kiko, Rainer
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2011
• Subjects: AWI; Event label; Sample type; Site; Ciliates indeterminata; Neogloboquadrina pachyderma; Radiolarians indeterminata; Acoela indeterminata; Nemertea; Nematoda; Rotifera; Halectinosoma spp.; Tisbe spp.; Calanus spp.; Metridia longa; Eurytemora richingsi; Calanoida indeterminata; Oithona cf. similis; Cyclopoida indeterminata; Copepoda indeterminata, nauplii; Apherusa glacialis; Eggs indeterminata; Salinity; Chlorophyll a; Comment; Ice station; Abundance estimate; ARK-XXII/2; Polarstern; Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas SPP1158; Arctic; Antarctic; Rotten; Antarc*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.848479; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.848479

Meltponds on Arctic sea ice have previously been reported to be devoid of marine metazoans due to fresh-water conditions. The predominantly dark frequently also green and brownish meltponds observed in the Central Arctic in summer 2007 hinted to brackish conditions and considerable amounts of algae, possibly making the habitat suitable for marine metazoans. Environmental conditions in meltponds as well as sympagic meiofauna in new ice covering pond surfaces and in rotten ice on the bottom of ponds were studied, applying modified techniques from sea-ice and under-ice research. Due to the very porous structure of the rotten ice, the meltponds were usually brackish to saline, providing living conditions very similar to sub-ice water. The new ice cover on the surface had similar characteristics as the bottom layer of level ice. The ponds were thus accessible to and inhabitable by metazoans. The new ice cover and the rotten ice were inhabited by various sympagic meiofauna taxa, predominantly ciliates, rotifers, ... : +++ abundant and dominant, ++ abundant, + present in low abundance, - not observed. Taxa, which were found in level ice (bottom 5 cm) or sub-ice (layer 0 m) but not in meltponds are also listed (all cells "-"). ...