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Lookup NU author(s): Dr William Reid
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Despite a number of studies in areas of focused methane seepage, the extent of transitional sediments of more diffuse methane seepage, and their influence upon biological communities is poorly understood. We investigated an area of reducing sediments with elevated levels of methane on the South Georgia margin around 250m depth and report data from a series of geochemical and biological analyses. Here, the geochemical signatures were consistent with weak methane seepage and the role of sub-surface methane consumption was clearly very important, preventing gas emissions into bottom waters. As a result, the contribution of methane-derived carbon to the microbial and metazoan food webs was very limited, although sulfur isotopic signatures indicated a wider range of dietary contributions than was apparent from carbon isotope ratios.Macrofaunal assemblages had high dominance and were indicative of reducing sediments, with many taxa common to other similar environments and no seep-endemic fauna, indicating transitional assemblages. Also similar to other cold seep areas, there were samples of authigenic carbonate but rather than occurring as pavements or sedimentary concretions, these carbonates were restricted to patches on the shells of Axinulus antarcticus (Bivalvia, Thyasiridae), which is suggestive of microbe–metazoan interactions.
Author(s): Bell JB, Aquilina A, Woulds C, Glover AG, Little CTS, Reid WDK, Hepburn LE, Newton J, Mills RA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Royal Society Open Science
Year: 2016
Volume: 3
Print publication date: 28/09/2016
Online publication date: 28/09/2016
Acceptance date: 25/08/2016
Date deposited: 03/10/2016
ISSN (electronic): 2054-5703
Publisher: The Royal Society Publishing
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160284
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160284
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