Benthic prokaryotic community dynamics along the Ardencaple Canyon, Western Greenland Sea

The Ardencaple Canyon, emanating from the Eastern Greenland continental rise over a distance of about 200km towards the Greenland Basin, was investigated to determine the effect of enhanced down-slope transport mechanisms on deep-sea benthic prokaryotic communities. The concentration of viable bacte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sedimentary geology 2012-07, Vol.263-264, p.36-44
Main Authors: Quéric, Nadia-Valérie, Soltwedel, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Benthic bacterial community
Canyons
Channels
Communities
Deep-sea sediments
Habitat heterogeneity
Moisture content
Sediments
Shelves
T-RFLP
Transport
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Summary:The Ardencaple Canyon, emanating from the Eastern Greenland continental rise over a distance of about 200km towards the Greenland Basin, was investigated to determine the effect of enhanced down-slope transport mechanisms on deep-sea benthic prokaryotic communities. The concentration of viable bacterial cells (Live/Dead®BacLight) and prokaryotic incorporation rates (3H-thymidine, 14C-leucine) increased with increasing distance from the continental shelf. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) results from terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis indicated a spatial coherence between the benthic bacterial community structure, prokaryotic incorporation rates, water content, protein concentration and the total organic matter in the sediments. The community complexity in sediments at 4–5cm depth was lower in the central parts of the channel compared with the northern and the southern levees, while richness in surface sediments of all stations was similar. Lacking any clear indications for a recent mass sediment transport or funneled shelf drainage flows, high similarities between bacterial assemblages in sediments along the canyon course may thus be governed by a combination of an ice-edge induced particle flux, episodic down-slope and canyon-guided transport mechanisms.
ISSN:0037-0738
1879-0968
DOI:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2011.10.004