Deep-Sea Benthic Habitats

Abstract

The oceans were observed to be deep during the great age of exploration in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Subsequent exploration demonstrated that the ocean was bisected by underwater mountain ranges and dotted with abyssal hills. With the advent of the echosounder and latterly multichannel swath bathymetry, we now know that the deep ocean has topography as diverse as found on land. In the last 30 years, with an increase in deep-sea scientific activity and the use of underwater vehicles, we have learned that the deep sea consists of a series of habitats and ecosystems interconnected by hydrography and topography. The more recent challenges have been how to sample and analyse these separate habitats and ecosystems. This chapter describes the different environments and briefly outlines the main methods of sampling for each habitat or ecosystem. More detailed aspects of these sampling methods are found in subsequent chapters