Ship board incubations for quantification of macrofaunal activity during RRS Discovery cruise DY030.

This data set contains incubations with sediment cores to assess macro faunal activity in the Celtic Sea. The data were collected between 10-May-2015 to 19-May-2015 on board the RRS Discovery cruise DY030. The authors do not have any concerns over the quality of the data set and values are consistent with similar data reported in the wider literature. Replicate sediment cores (n = 5) of size 20 cm by 20 cm and depth 12 cm were collected from NIOZ cores taken at 4 sites (Muddy, site A; Sandy Mud, site G; Muddy Sand, site H; and Sand, site I). These sediment cores were transferred to clear perspex mesocosms and placed in randomised locations in the controlled temperature laboratory on board the RRS Discovery. Luminophores, coloured sand which fluoresces under ultra-violet light, were added to assess bioturbation. The mesocosms were then inoculated with sodium bromide to enable bioirrigation analysis. Sub-samples were also analysed for inorganic nutrients and faunal abundance and biomass. The data were collected as part of the Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry (SSB) research programme as part of Module 3, Task 3.1.1 of the Biogeochemistry, Macronutrient and Carbon Cycling in the benthic layer (BMCC) research programme. SSB was co-funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The programme took a holistic approach to the cycling of nutrients and carbon and the controls on primary and secondary production in UK and European shelf seas, to increase understanding of these processes and their role in wider biogeochemical cycles. The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) created the metadata entry and is responsible for holding master copies of the data.