Biochemical investigation of multicorer sediment profile PS80/181-2

To detect and track the impact of large-scale environmental changes in a the transition zone between the northern North Atlantic and the central Arctic Ocean, and to determine experimentally the factors controlling deep-sea biodiversity, the Alfred- Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) established the deep-sea long-term observatory HAUSGARTEN, which constitutes the first, and until now only open-ocean long-term station in a polar region. Virtually undisturbed sediment samples have been taken using a video-guided multiple corer (MUC) at 13 HAUSGARTEN stations along a bathymetric (1,000 - 4,000 m water depth) and a latitudinal transect in 2,500 m water depth as well as two stations at 230 and 1,200 m water depth within the framework of the KONGHAU project. Various biogenic sediment compounds were analyzed to estimate the input of organic matter from phytodetritus sedimentation, benthic activities (e.g. bacterial exoenzymatic activity), and the total biomass of the smallest sediment-inhabiting organisms (size range: bacteria to meiofauna).

为探测并追踪北大西洋北部与北冰洋中部过渡带的大规模环境变化影响，并通过实验明确调控深海生物多样性的关键因子，阿尔弗雷德·魏格纳极地与海洋研究所（Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, AWI）建立了深海长期观测站HAUSGARTEN，该站点是极地地区首个且截至目前唯一的开放大洋长期观测站。在KONGHAU项目框架下，研究团队沿一条水深范围1000~4000米的水深断面与一条位于2500米水深的纬度断面设置了13个HAUSGARTEN观测站，另在230米、1200米水深处各设置1个站点，并采用视频导向式多管取样器（video-guided multiple corer, MUC）采集了近乎未受扰动的沉积物样品。研究人员对多种生源沉积物组分开展了分析，以估算浮游植物碎屑沉降输入的有机质通量、底栖生物活动（如细菌胞外酶活性），以及栖息于沉积物中的最小体型生物（尺寸范围：从细菌到小型底栖动物）的总生物量。