Abstract
During two expeditions with RV Polarstern to the Laptev Sea (ARK IX/4 in September/October 1993 and ARK XI/1 in July/August 1995), sediment samples were collected from the continental shelf edge to the deep Arctic basins from water depths between 37 m and 3831 m. Pigment concentrations in the surface sediments were determined as a biomarker for the input of phytoplankton material by sedimentation (Pfannkuche 1992). Furthermore, hydrolytic activities of the extracellular enzyme ß- glucosidase in the sediments were measured as an indicator of microbial heterotrophic activity linked to the availability of plankton detritus (Boetius and Lochte 1994).
In summer 1993, the eastern Laptev Sea was ice-free and the western section was ice- covered. In contrast, in summer 1995, the shelf edge of the Laptev Sea was ice-free during the whole summer and only the eastern part of the slope was ice-covered. However, in both years, chlorophyll a equivalents (chlorophyll a + phaeopigments) and enzyme activities in the surface sediments (0–1 cm) decreased from the shelf edge to the bottom at the continental slope more than lOfold with increasing water depth. Highest pigment concentrations and microbial enzymatic activitiy was found at the shelf edge of the Eastern Laptev Sea in summer 1993, in an area that had been crossed several times by the ice edge. However, in general, variations in the ice cover during the Arctic summer seem to have a lesser effect on phytodetritus deposition at the continental slope than water depth and/or distance from the shelf area.
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Grahl, C., Boetius, A., Nöthig, EM. (1999). Pelagic-Benthic Coupling in the Laptev Sea Affected by Ice Cover. In: Kassens, H., et al. Land-Ocean Systems in the Siberian Arctic. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60134-7_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60134-7_14
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