Abstract
Compared to the widespread occurrence of Paleodictyon in the geological record, in situ observations of this trace (herein termed ‘pattern’) in modern deep-sea sediments are still scarce, being confined to the Mid Atlantic Ridge, the South Atlantic, southwestern Pacific and the eastern equatorial Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Here, we report the discovery of Paleodictyon along the southern Central Indian Ridge and the Southeast Indian Ridge within the German license area for the exploration of marine massive sulfide deposits in the Indian Ocean. The patterns occur in sedimented areas, especially those closer to hydrothermal vents and sometimes in aggregation of up to forty, resulting in maximum densities of 9.7 patterns m−2. While many show the grid-like array of holes on the sediment surface that is typical of the modern examples of the genus, the pattern sometimes loses its regularity, in particular on thin veneers of patchy sediment overlying hard basalt substrate, a mode of occurrence reported here for the first time. Other examples appear to be in various stages of natural erosion, in some cases creating unusual linear features.
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copyright BGR)
Change history
10 January 2022
The name of the second author was incorrectly tagged as P.M. Arbizu. The correct name is P. Martínez Arbizu.
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Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Sven Petersen, Sebastian Grabner and Meike Klischies from GEOMAR as well as the two anonymous Reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments to improve the manuscript. Pictures and sample information presented in this study originate from the INDEX exploration project for marine polymetallic sulfides by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Exploration activities are carried out in the framework and under the regulations of an exploration license with the International Seabed Authority.
Funding
This study was funded by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Exploration activities are carried out in the framework and under the regulations of an exploration license with the International Seabed Authority.
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This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
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All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the acknowledgements, if applicable. The study is compliant with CBD and Nagoya protocols.
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The photographs analyzed during the current study and the generated tables containing aerial estimation and annotated occurrence data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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TCK and PMA conceived and designed research. TCK and KG collected the data. AJG and KG analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. TK is the principal investigator of the INDEX project through which data was collected. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Gerdes, K., Martínez Arbizu, P., Gooday, A.J. et al. Discovery of Paleodictyon in the Indian Ocean. Mar. Biodivers. 51, 98 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-021-01231-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-021-01231-7