Metazoan meiofauna densities from abyssal and hadal depths of the North Pacific trenches, 2012-2022

DOI

This dataset provides quantitative abundance data for metazoan meiofauna from deep-sea sediments of the Northern North Pacific Ocean. The data are presented as densities (individuals per 10 cm²) for major taxonomic groups (e.g., Nematoda, Copepoda, Kinorhyncha) at the level of individual sediment cores, stations, and expeditions. These data were collected to identify the primary environmental drivers shaping meiofaunal community structure across abyssal and hadal depth gradients. The dataset compiles samples collected during three expeditions aboard the German research vessel RV Sonne: 1, Kurambio I (SO223) in 2012 to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench (KKT); 2, Kurambio II (SO250) in 2016 to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench (KKT); 3, AleutBio (SO293) in 2022 to the Aleutian Trench (AT). All samples were collected using a multicorer (MUC). The top 5 cm of sediment from each core was preserved in 4% buffered formalin, and meiofauna were subsequently extracted and identified to higher taxonomic levels. The dataset includes permanent meiofauna and copepod nauplii; juvenile stages of typical macrofaunal taxa (e.g., Polychaeta, Isopoda) were excluded. This final dataset comprises 190 individual cores from 66 stations, spanning a depth range from 4,304 to 9,541 meters. It integrates new data from the AleutBio expedition with a complete re-assessment of raw data from the Kurambio I and II expeditions. Please note that samples collected in the Bering Sea were excluded from this dataset due to low sample coverage.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.993630
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.993630
Provenance
Creator Bonk, Frederic; Kaiser, Stefanie ORCID logo; Oldeland, Jens ORCID logo; Martínez-Arbizu, Pedro
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2026
Funding Reference Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Bonn https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Crossref Funder ID 03G0293A https://foerderportal.bund.de/foekat/jsp/SucheAction.do?actionMode=view&fkz=03G0293A AleutBio
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; Data access is restricted (moratorium, sensitive data, license constraints); https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess false
Representation
Resource Type Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 3610 data points
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (-161.214W, 39.724S, 147.167E, 53.600N); North Pacific Ocean
Temporal Coverage Begin 2012-07-29T14:06:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2022-08-30T16:47:00Z