Nature 323, 251 - 253 (18 September 1986); doi:10.1038/323251a0

In situ studies of megafaunal mounds indicate rapid sediment turnover and community response at the deep-sea floor

Craig R. Smith^*, Peter A. Jumars^* & David J. DeMaster^†

^*School of Oceanography, WB-10, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
^†Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27650, USA

Sediment mounds, composed of faecal material from megafaunal deposit feeders^1,2, occur in virtually all deep-sea environments, forming the dominant decimetre-scale topography on the ocean floor^3,4. Mounds are often zones of deep, convective bioturbation^1,2, and their formation is thought to disturb infaunal benthos^5,6. We are studying mounds in the deep sea to evaluate rates and patterns of megafaunal sediment mixing, and to assess the disturbance effects of mound building on the infaunal community, with the goal of using mounds to investigate natural processes of succession at the deep-sea floor⁷. Our results indicate that sediment turnover associated with mound building by echiuran worms can be very rapid, and that bathyal infauna can respond quickly to this type of disturbance. These findings suggest that spatially rare but dynamic elements in the sediment fabric, such as mounds, may be important in controlling microstratigraphy, chemical diagenesis and community structure at the deep-sea floor.

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