Macrofauna associated with submarine groundwater discharge sites and a cold seep in Svalbard fjords

Occurrence Observation
Latest version published by The University Centre in Svalbard on Jun 5, 2026 The University Centre in Svalbard
Publication date:
June 5, 2026
License:
CC-BY 4.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

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Description

This dataset contains macrobenthic occurrence data collected in March 2023 from onboard the research vessel Kronprins Haakon as part of the ArcticSGD project. The study investigated the influence of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) on benthic macrofaunal communities in Svalbard fjords, Arctic Norway. Sampling took place at three SGD sites: Tempelfjorden inner basin (T SGD; 78.4 m water depth), Murdoch Hole (M SGD; 39.5 m water depth), and Hornsund (H SGD; 117 m water depth), and one cold seep site on the Hornsundbanken shelf (HB; 126 m water depth). At the Hornsundbanken seep, samples were taken from two microhabitats: microbial mats (HB mats) and regular seep sediment (HB reg).At the two Tempelfjorden sites, two replicate sediment cores (9 cm diameter) were collected using a GEMAX corer. At Hornsund and Hornsundbanken, three replicate push cores (8.5 cm diameter) were taken using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Ægir 6000. Sediment cores were sieved over a 0.5 mm mesh and immediately preserved in 4% buffered formaldehyde, then transferred to 70% ethanol in the laboratory. Macrofauna were sorted under a Leica MZ16 A stereomicroscope and identified to the lowest taxonomic level, typically species level. The number of individuals for each taxon was counted and abundance standardized to m². Wet weight was determined after blotting on a scale resolving to 0.001 g, and biomass was also standardized to m².

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 90 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Schramm J, Hong W, ten Hietbrink S, Szymczycha B, Knies J, Sen A (2026). Macrofauna associated with submarine groundwater discharge sites and a cold seep in Svalbard fjords. Version 1.6. The University Centre in Svalbard. Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=schramm2026_sgd_svalbard_benthos&v=1.6

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is The University Centre in Svalbard. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: df5a517f-e1b6-4a3a-b2a6-c6c9da38e7f1.  The University Centre in Svalbard publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Norway.

Keywords

Occurrence; Observation; GCMDSK:LOCATIONS > OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > SVALBARD AND JAN MAYEN GCMDSK:EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES > GLACIAL LANDFORMS > FJORDS GCMDSK:EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC

Contacts

Johanna Schramm
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
UNIS (University Centre in Svalbard)
N-9171 Longyearbyen
Svalbard
NO
Wei-Li Hong
  • Originator
Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University
10691 Stockholm
Stockholms län
SE
Sophie ten Hietbrink
  • Originator
Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University
10691 Stockholm
Stockholms län
SE
Beata Szymczycha
  • Originator
Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences
81-712 Sopot
Pomerania
PL
Jochen Knies
  • Originator
Geological Survey of Norway (NGU)
7491 Trondheim
Trøndelag
NO
Arunima Sen
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
UNIS (University Centre in Svalbard)
N-9171 Longyearbyen
Svalbard
NO

Geographic Coverage

Svalbard fjords, Arctic Norway. Sampling sites were located in Tempelfjorden (T SGD; 78.4 m, M SGD; 39.5 m), Hornsund fjord (H SGD; 117 m), and on the Hornsundbanken shelf (HB; 126 m).

Bounding Coordinates South West [76.793, 14.16], North East [78.429, 17.139]

Taxonomic Coverage

N/A

Phylum Mollusca, Arthropoda, Bryozoa, Annelida, Echinodermata

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 2023-03-03 / 2023-03-06

Project Data

Data collected as part of the ArcticSGD project, investigating submarine groundwater discharge and its effects on benthic communities in Svalbard fjords.

Title ArcticSGD
Funding The research leading to these results received funding from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014–2021 project no. 2019/34/H/ST10/00645. W.H also acknowledges the support from the Swedish Research Council (VR) under the project "Cyrosphere-driven submarine groundwater in the Arctic" (Project No: 2021-04962) and STINT through the project Cryosphere-driven submarine groundwater discharge across the Scandinavian peninsula since the Last Glacial Maximum (IB2022-9230).

The personnel involved in the project:

Arunima Sen

Sampling Methods

Sediment cores were collected using a GEMAX corer (9 cm diameter, two replicates) at Tempelfjorden sites, and push cores (8.5 cm diameter, three replicates) using the ROV Ægir 6000 at Hornsund and Hornsundbanken. Cores were sieved over a 0.5 mm mesh and preserved in 4% buffered formaldehyde. Macrofauna were sorted under a stereomicroscope and identified to the lowest taxonomic level. Abundance and biomass were standardized to m².

Study Extent Svalbard fjords, Arctic Norway. Sampling was conducted in March 2023 at three submarine groundwater discharge sites in Tempelfjorden and Hornsund, and one cold seep site on the Hornsundbanken shelf.
Quality Control All taxa were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level and scientific names verified against the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).

Method step description:

  1. Sediment cores were sieved over a 0.5 mm mesh, preserved in 4% buffered formaldehyde, and transferred to 70% ethanol in the laboratory. Macrofauna were sorted under a Leica MZ16 A stereomicroscope and identified to the lowest taxonomic level.

Additional Metadata

Alternative Identifiers df5a517f-e1b6-4a3a-b2a6-c6c9da38e7f1
https://ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=schramm2026_sgd_svalbard_benthos