International Journal of Marine Science 2016, Vol.6, No.54, 1-8
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The Shannon Wiener index (H’) varied from 1.684 in station 1 to a 1.66 in station 2 with an average of 1.61 in the
inner fjord and 1.28 in the outer fjord. The diversity of meio fauna was higher in the inner fjord. All meiobenthic
groups were present in station 1 which was located in the inner fjord and it was dominated by nematodes.
Multivariate analysis of meiofaunal abundance showed an overall similarity of 80% between stations that
indicated least variability among stations, since station wise cluster analysis revealed 2 major clusters where the
abundance of meiofauna was maximum between station 5 and 7 (95%) followed by stations 4, 5 and 7 (94%)
(Fig.5). Hence, the similarity in abundance of fauna was more conspicuous in stations 4, 5 and 7. Cluster analysis
revealed that the inner and outer fjords had an overall similarity of ~ 85% between stations (Fig. 6). Similarity
analysis (ANOSIM) indicated that there was significant variation in the distribution of meiofauna between inner
and outer fjords (Global R = 0.833, P < 0.001).
Fig. 5 Dendrogram representation of square - root transformed
data of meiofaunal abundance of Kongsfjorden system
Fig. 6 Dendrogram representation of square - root transformed
data of meiofaunal abundance of Kongsfjorden system in the
inner and outer fjord of Kongsfjord
Discussion
The mean value of sediment moisture in the outer fjord was higher when compared to the inner fjord. The moisture
content indicates the water holding capacity of the sediment. Station seven had higher water holding capacity but the
rest of the stations depicted a uniform nature. Fine sediment with higher water content was probably a more difficult
barrier to the upward burrowing activity of fauna than coarse sediment (Turk, 1981). The amount of water in the
sediment is an important factor determining the distribution of organisms. Total carbon in the sediment was higher
in the outer fjord, than the inner fjord. The average inorganic carbon was slightly higher in the inner fjord, than the
outer fjord. Among the two forms of carbon (organic and inorganic) present in the soil, total organic carbon is the
major form of carbon which is available to the food web which gets transferred from one trophic level to another.
The total organic carbon values showed a direct relationship within the Kongsfjorden system. The decreasing
concentration of organic matter in the sediment could be the result of glacial mixing (Holte and Gulliksen, 1998).
The proportion of silt, sand and clay in the sediment in all the seven stations were almost similar, hence the inner and
outer fjords also was similar in terms of granulometric composition. Similar results were observed in the studies of
Kotwicki et al. (2004) and Wlodarska-Kowalczuk and Pearson (2004). In the present study, it was also observed that,
silt dominated in sediment fractions among the seven study stations in Kongsfjord. The granulometric
characteristics, quantity of organic carbon and the stability of sediments, all reflect the glacial sedimentation
gradients in the Arctic glacial fjord. Sedimentation rates of suspended particulate matter were reported to be highest
in the glacier’s proximal inner basin (Svendsen et al., 2002). Salinity and temperature gradients are produced by the
inflow of fresh and cold glacial melt waters in the Kongsfjorden system, which are controlled by the glacial activity.
During the summer months, the high influx of terrigenous material transported by the glacial inputs produces high
particle flux which affected both the benthic food availability and substrate condition while the lack of sediment
