Description of biotope or habitat type
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Arctic mid bathyal coarse sediment
Physical habitat description
| Salinity | Full (30-35 ppt) |
|---|---|
| Wave exposure | |
| Tidal streams | |
| Substratum | Coarse sediment |
| Zone | Arctic mid bathyal |
| Depth Band | 600 - 1100 m |
| Other Features |
Download comparative physical and biological data. The comparative tables enable a rapid comparison of the species composition and principal physical characteristics between a given set of biotopes.
- Records used to define the biotope (core records)
- Other records assigned to this biotope, marked as 'certain'
- Other records assigned to this biotope, marked as 'uncertain'
- Predicted extent of the level 3 (for sublittoral rock & deep sea) or 4 (for sublittoral sediment) habitat
Point data based on records in the UK Marine Recorder Snapshot. Predicted habitat extent is from UKSeaMap.
Description
Deep-sea coarse sediment has not been sampled widely for infauna so little is currently known about infaunal community structure. Epifauna tend to be sparse mobile species or burrowing fauna such as anemones visible at the surface. Coarse sediment includes unstable pebbles, cobbles, boulders and coral rubble. In the absence of ecological data, coarse sediment habitat can be defined according to Long (2006), which describes the classification's broad sediment types according to the relative proportion of mud, sand and gravel(see http://www.emodnet-seabedhabitats.eu/PDF/GMHM3_Detailed_explanation_of_seabed_sediment_classification.pdf). Note that only small amounts of gravel are required to move the habitat from sand to coarse sediment and only small amounts of mud can move the habitat from coarse to mixed sediment. In the absence of particle size data it can be difficult to reliably distinguish between coarse sediment and mixed sediment. Note that stable pebbles, cobbles and boulders are classed as rock; any rock present on coarse sediment is considered a separate habitat within a mosaic.
Situation
No situation data available.
Temporal variation
No temporal variation data available.
Characterising species
Characterising species data not applicable.
Similar biotopes or habitat types
Not applicable or unknown.