In order to assess the carbon flux through the deep-sea benthic boundary layer, sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) was measured in different months and years at the BIOTRANS area in the abyssal northeastern Atlantic. SCOC varied seasonally with a maximum in July/August. Evidence is given for a direct coupling between a substantial sedimentation of phytodetritus and the seasonal increase in SCOC. Rapid colonization, growth and decomposition rates indicate that the deep-sea benthic microbial and protozoan biota can react quickly to substantial falls of particulate organic matter. They seem to be the most important groups to generate seasonal changes in deep-sea benthic carbon flux rates.

Supplement to: Pfannkuche, Olaf (1992): Organic carbon flux through the benthic community in the temperate abyssal northeast Atlantic. In: Rowe, G T & Pariente, V (eds.), Deep-sea food chains and the global carbon cycle. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 183-198