International Journal of Marine Science 2016, Vol.6, No.54, 1-8
2
Fig. 1 Map of Kongsfjord showing the study stations
Table 1 Details of sampling stations in Kongsfjorden system
Stations
Depth (m)
Latitude
Longitude
1
76
78
◦
54.299’
12
◦
13.665’
2
80
78
◦
55.019’
12
◦
04.499’
3
40
78
◦
57.216’
12
◦
10.527’
4
303
78
◦
56.462’
11
◦
57.295’
5
300
78
◦
58.530’
11
◦
41.487’
6
213
79
◦
00.580’
11
◦
36.479’
7
244
79
◦
00.594’
11
◦
25.471’
Collection and processing of samples
The samples were collected as a part of Indian Arctic Expedition from 17 July to 6 August, 2011 at the Indian
research base “Himadri Station” at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway; which is a part of the International Arctic
Research base, Ny-Alesund. The boat “
Teisten
” of Kings Bay was employed for collecting samples from the
selected transects. The samples, both macro and meio benthos were collected separately using van Veen grab (KC
Denmark A/S) of 0.1 m
2
area. Sub samples for meiofauna analysis were collected by a glass corer with
cross-section area of 5cm
2
that was pushed into sediment to a depth of 5 cm. (Pfannkuche and Thiel, 1988). The
samples were preserved in formaldehyde – seawater solution of 4% and stained in Rose Bengal. Organisms were
extracted from the sediment using decantation technique (Higgins and Thiel, 1988). Meiofauna after passing
through a 1-mm sieve were retained on a 63 µm sieve, was counted. The meiobenthic and macrobenthic
organisms were identified using suitable taxonomic keys (Giere, 2009; Fauvel, 1953) using, Olympus - Magnus
MS 24.
Sediment characteristics
Sediment pH was determined using Systronics analyser (No.371, [accuracy ±0.01]). Digital Eh meter (Systronics,
No.318) was used for determining Oxidation reduction potential (Eh) and expressed in mV. The moisture content of
the sediment was determined by drying sediment samples at a uniform temperature of 100
0
C. Sediment
granulometric analysis were performed with a Sympatec (KFS Magic) Serial No: 1131, 41362 laser diffraction
granulometer for finding the fractions of silt, clay and sand in the sediment. Total carbon (TC), total organic carbon
(TOC) and total inorganic carbon (TIC) concentrations were determined on dried sediment samples by thermal
combustion using a TOC – analyzer, Analytik Jena multi N/C 2100s. Samples for inorganic carbon were pre-treated
with HCl to remove carbonates.
