Near seafloor bioluminescence, macrozooplankton and macroparticles at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Jessica Craig*, Marsh Youngbluth, Alan J. Jamieson, Imants G. Priede

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The benthic boundary layer is a region often perceived to be high in faunal abundance and biomass. In this study, we investigated the distribution of near seafloor bioluminescent zooplankton (BL), macrozooplankton (>1. cm) and macroparticles (>430. μm) at the Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge at ca. 2500. m depth.At sites south of 52°N, the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone, BL density increased weakly towards the seafloor. This trend was driven by small bioluminescent crustaceans, comprising ca. 90% of the total BL density. Macroparticle density was coherent with BL density, exhibiting a small increase towards the seafloor. Appendicularians (animals as well as occupied and discarded houses) were the most abundant macrozooplankton, and the only group to show a significant increase in density towards the seafloor. The absence of pronounced increases in BL and macroparticle density, and no increase in macrozooplankton (except appendicularians), towards the seafloor do not support the conventional view of high concentrations of particulate organic matter and zooplankton biomass in the benthic boundary layer relative to overlying waters.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)62-75
Number of pages14
JournalDeep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers
Volume98
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2015

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
We thank the captain, crew and company of the RRS James Cook, cruises JC011 and JC048 and the ISIS ROV team at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK. This work was supported by the NERC Consortium Grant ECOMAR (Ecosystem of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the SubPolar Front and Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone (Grant no. NE/C512961/1). J. Craig was funded by UK NERC studentship (NE/F012020/1).

Keywords

  • Bathypelagic
  • Benthic boundary layer
  • Bioluminescence
  • Macroparticles
  • Mid-Atlantic ridge
  • Zooplankton

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Near seafloor bioluminescence, macrozooplankton and macroparticles at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this