Description: Seasonal dynamics in the activity of Arctic shelf benthos have been the subject of few local studies, and the pronounced among-site variability characterizing their results makes it difficult to upscale and generalize their conclusions. In a regional study encompassing five sites at 100-595 m water depth in the southeastern Beaufort Sea, we found that total pigment concentrations in surficial sediments, used as proxies of general food supply to the benthos, rose significantly after the transition from ice-covered conditions in spring (March-June 2008) to open-water conditions in summer (June-August 2008), whereas sediment Chl a concentrations, typical markers of fresh food input, did not. Macrobenthic biomass (including agglutinated foraminifera 〉500 µm) varied significantly among sites (1.2-6.4 g C/m**2 in spring, 1.1-12.6 g C/m**2 in summer), whereas a general spring-to-summer increase was not detected. Benthic carbon remineralisation also ranged significantly among sites (11.9-33.2 mg C/m**2/day in spring, 11.6-44.4 mg C/m**2/day in summer) and did in addition exhibit a general significant increase from spring-to-summer. Multiple regression analysis suggests that in both spring and summer, sediment Chl a concentration is the prime determinant of benthic carbon remineralisation, but other factors have a significant secondary influence, such as foraminiferan biomass (negative in both seasons), water depth (in spring) and infaunal biomass (in summer). Our findings indicate the importance of the combined and dynamic effects of food supply and benthic community patterns on the carbon remineralisation of the polar shelf benthos in seasonally ice-covered seas.

Description: This dataset provides abundance data for macrofaunal taxa determined from sediment samples collected in the Weddell Sea (mostly South-Eastern). A minimum of three samples (cores) were collected at each station with a MUC10 multicorer or a giant box corer during PS96. Sediment cores were sliced into depth layers (stations 017, 026, 061, 072: 0–2cm, 2–5cm, 5– bottom; stations 001, 037, 048: 0–1cm, 1–2cm, 2–3cm, 3–4cm, 4–5cm, 5– bottom) and preserved in 4%-borax-buffered formaldehyde solution prior to sieving (sieve size 500 µm, 1000 µm) and counting (detailed methods in Säring et al. submitted). Abundance is presented per depth layer (note different slice volume) as ind./m². Data from different size fractions are available upon request. Macrofauna communities included individuals from 18 higher taxa. The macrofauna abundance data are part of a larger ecological study on meio- and macrofauna communities and their relation to environmental conditions and remineralisation at the sediment-water interface (see Related to below). For the larger study, sediment cores from which macrofauna abundance data are deposited here were also used for microcosm incubations: Untreated incubations (Benthic ecosystem Function Experiments BEFEx), and incubations with and without microalgae addition (Algae Feeding Experiment AFEx). Cores from BEFEx and AFEx without algae are labeled with NT (not treated), cores from AFEx with algae are labeled as T (treated).

Description: The effects of changing ice and atmospheric conditions on the upwelling of deep nutrient-laden waters and biological productivity in the coastal Beaufort Sea were quantified using a unique combination of in situ and remote-sensing approaches. Repeated instances of ice ablation and upwelling during fall 2007 and summer 2008 multiplied the production of ice algae, phytoplankton, zooplankton and benthos by 2 to 6 fold. Strong wind forcing failed to induce upward shifts in the biological productivity of stratified waters off the shelf.