ATP content in surface sediments of the Northeast Atlantic (Table 1)

1. ATP in deep-sea sediments can be determined after it is adsorbed on a mixture of the sediment and calcium carbonate by measuring the luminescence of the reaction of the mixture and luciferin-luciferase.
2. ATP contents of the toplayer of northeastern Atlantic sediments (Josephine Bank and northern Canary Basin) decrease with increasing depths of 252, 408, 1445, 1769, 2149, 4897, 5510m: 0.96, 0.61, 0.13, 0.10, 0.21, 0.05, 0.07 µg ATP/ml wet sediment. The decreasing values are in accordance with the decrease of macrobenthos and meiobenthos biomass in the deep-sea. […]