The Biogeochemistry of Sediments from the Madeira Abyssal Plain — Preliminary Results

The organic biogeochemistry of surface sediments from the Madeira Abyssal Plain has been investigated. Total organic carbon contents, organic carbon to nitrogen ratios, concentrations of hydrolysable amino acids, hydrolysable carbohydrates and lipids have been determined. In one case, the detailed lipid compositions were also investigated. The sedimentary geochemistry appears to have been strongly influenced by the recent (ca. 1000 yrs.) deposition of a turbidite. Normally labile lipids are present in high concentrations through the turbidite and the numbers of the most abundant metazoan meiofauna (nematodes) closely correlates with the concentrations of the former. Concentrations of hydrolysable amino acids and carbohydrates, relative to total organic carbon, also decrease through the turbidite layer, but in the case of the carbohydrates tend to be higher in the underlying pelagic sediments. Deeper sediments are more oxidised than those at the surface. The concentration profile for manganese in one of the examined cores suggests that this anomaly arises through the action of manganese‐reducing bacteria that are present in pelagic sediments underlying the turbidite.