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Research:
The principal objective of this project is “To assess how biogeochemical composition and flux of OM to the deep-sea floor drives benthic community structure, dynamics and diversity at two sites with contrasting primary production regimes.”
Specific hypotheses to be tested :
1. That the variability in biogeochemical composition as well as the total flux of OM reaching the abyssal seafloor is dependent on the productivity of overlying surface waters.
2. That the biogeochemical composition of incoming OM is imprinted on the biochemistry of key detritovores.
3. That key nano-nutrients are critical for the reproduction of some deep-sea species and thus variations in OM flux affect sediment community structure and diversity.
4. That variations in total OM flux also influence benthic rate processes (e.g. faunal activity).
The cruise of RRS Discovery (D300) to the Crozet Plateau in the Southern Indian Ocean to the south east of South Africa was the field phase of the NERC project (NER/A/S/2003/00573) tackling this issue. We focused our studies on two contrasting areas of surface productivity around the Crozet Plateau (Southern Indian Ocean). We adopted an integrated, multidisciplinary approach which involves assessment the OM input to the deep-sea floor (export production), the ambient biogeochemistry of the sediment surface, the benthic community structure and diversity (molecular and morphological approaches), the activity of fish (seabed lander experimentation), the uptake of specific biochemicals by key species and their influence on reproductive processes.
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