Biomass of seston in the benthic layer of the Southwestern Indian Ocean

At stations to 1530 m depth in the Mozambique Channel and on the Saya-de-Malha and Walters banks seston biomass 2 m above the bottom was lower than at 30 m. Above the Walters shoal this difference was 13.2 mg/m3 and was not equal to zero for P < 0.001. These results contradict previous ideas of biomass increase in benthic layers. The most likely cause of the observed impoverishment of plankton may be predominant consumption of living zooplankton component of seston by bottom and near-bottom predators. In the area of the Walters shoal this consumption is estimated as being about 300 mg/m2 per day. Animals inhabiting this area live mainly on plankton brought in by horizontal advection, so that existence of faunal assemblages even on shallow-water submarine elevations is supported not mainly by local photosynthesis, but by primary production of surrounding waters.

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Cite this as

Rudyakov, Yury A, Vereshchaka, Alexander L, Vinogradov, Georgy M, Geptner, Mikhail V (1990). Dataset: Biomass of seston in the benthic layer of the Southwestern Indian Ocean. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.758809

DOI retrieved: 1990

Additional Info

Field Value
Imported on November 30, 2024
Last update November 30, 2024
License CC-BY-3.0
Source https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.758809
Author Rudyakov, Yury A
Given Name Yury A
Family Name Rudyakov
More Authors
Vereshchaka, Alexander L
Vinogradov, Georgy M
Geptner, Mikhail V
Source Creation 1990
Publication Year 1990
Resource Type application/zip - filename: Rudyakov_1990
Subject Areas
Name: Oceans

Related Identifiers
Title: Seston biomass in the benthic layer of the Southwestern Indian Ocean
Type: DOI
Relation: IsSupplementTo
Year: 1990
Source: Oceanology
Authors: Rudyakov Yury A , Vereshchaka Alexander L , Vinogradov Georgy M , Geptner Mikhail V .