The influence of iron deposits from an artifical source on community composition of nematodes and bacteria in Arctic deep-sea sediments

This study assesses the impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota (bacteria, meiofauna) at the deep seafloor. To evaluate the hypothesis that the abundance, distribution, and diversity of the small benthic biota varies in relation to a local input of structural steel at the seabed, we analyzed sediment samples and the associated infauna along a short transect (~1.5 m in length) with increasing distance to an iron source, i.e., corroding steel weights (30 cm in length and width, and 6 cm in height) of a free-falling observational platform (bottom-lander) lying at the seafloor for about seven years.