Giant sponge grounds of Central Arctic seamounts are associated with extinct seep life
Morganti, T. M.; Slaby, B. M.; De Kluijver, A.; Busch, K.; Hentschel, U.; Middelburg, J. J.; Grotheer, H.; Mollenhauer, G.; Dannheim, J.; Rapp, H. T.; Purser, A.; Boetius, A.
(2022) Nature Communications, volume 13, issue 1, pp. 1 - 15
(Article)
Abstract
The Central Arctic Ocean is one of the most oligotrophic oceans on Earth because of its sea-ice cover and short productive season. Nonetheless, across the peaks of extinct volcanic seamounts of the Langseth Ridge (87°N, 61°E), we observe a surprisingly dense benthic biomass. Bacteriosponges are the most abundant fauna within
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this community, with a mass of 460 g C m−2 and an estimated carbon demand of around 110 g C m−2 yr−1, despite export fluxes from regional primary productivity only sufficient to provide <1% of this required carbon. Observed sponge distribution, bulk and compound-specific isotope data of fatty acids suggest that the sponge microbiome taps into refractory dissolved and particulate organic matter, including remnants of an extinct seep community. The metabolic profile of bacteriosponge fatty acids and expressed genes indicate that autotrophic symbionts contribute significantly to carbon assimilation. We suggest that this hotspot ecosystem is unique to the Central Arctic and associated with extinct seep biota, once fueled by degassing of the volcanic mounts.
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Keywords: General Chemistry, General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Physics and Astronomy
ISSN: 2041-1723
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Note: Funding Information: We thank the captain and crew of PS101 and the OFOBS and NUI teams for their excellent support at sea. We thank the GeoLab staff from the Utrecht University, in particular the research assistant Arnold van Dijk, Dr. Klaas Nierop, and Desmond Eefting for their support in the isotope laboratory. We thank Elizabeth Bonk from AWI for her technical support for the radiocarbon measurements. We thank Jan Steger from the University of Vienna for the identification of bivalve shells. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Hans Tore Rapp. This study received funding from the DFG Cluster of Excellence “The Ocean in the Earth System at the University of Bremen, grant. 49926684, from the ERC Adv Grant ABYSS to AB (grant no. 294757) and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 679849 (SponGES). Additional funds came from the Helmholtz Association, Max Planck Society, and the Netherlands Earth System Science Center. Funding Information: We thank the captain and crew of PS101 and the OFOBS and NUI teams for their excellent support at sea. We thank the GeoLab staff from the Utrecht University, in particular the research assistant Arnold van Dijk, Dr. Klaas Nierop, and Desmond Eefting for their support in the isotope laboratory. We thank Elizabeth Bonk from AWI for her technical support for the radiocarbon measurements. We thank Jan Steger from the University of Vienna for the identification of bivalve shells. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Hans Tore Rapp. This study received funding from the DFG Cluster of Excellence ?The Ocean in the Earth System at the University of Bremen, grant. 49926684, from the ERC Adv Grant ABYSS to AB (grant no. 294757) and from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 679849 (SponGES). Additional funds came from the Helmholtz Association, Max Planck Society, and the Netherlands Earth System Science Center. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).
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