Previous pulse-chase experiments have revealed a wide diversity of benthic response patterns to organic matter (OM) input depending on environmental setting, benthic community structure and experimental conditions i.e. quantity and quality of the added OM. However, the mechanisms and interaction of environmental and biological factors that produce an observed response pattern are poorly understood. The present thesis set out to improve our current understanding on the set of parameters that determine benthic response patterns. The core of this study was based on two pulse-chase experiments in two bathyal settings: the Faroe-Shetland Channel (FSC) and the SW Cretan slope in the E. Mediterranean (E. Med). The sub-zero temperatures in the FSC enabled the observation of the benthic response in “slow-motion” and showed that the response is not static but instead might go through various “phases”. In the warm E. Med, C processing rates were considerably lower compared to previous measurements in adjacent regions. The discrepancy was attributed to the particularly refractory sedimentary OM at the sampling station with apparent consequences for the physiological state of the bacterial community. Both experiments showed that bacterial metabolism and its regulation is a key factor determining the reaction of the benthic community to OM inputs. This thesis provided further understanding on the short-term fate of organic C in deep-sea sediments but also raised certain issues that could be addressed in future studies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:521188 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Gontikaki, Evangelia |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=128351 |
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