Bioregionalization of the George V Shelf, East Antarctica

Updated: 2018-04-22

The East Antarctic continental shelf has had very few studies examining the macrobenthos structure or relating biological communities to the abiotic environment. In this study, we apply a hierarchical method of benthic habitat mapping to Geomorphic Unit and Biotope levels at the local (10s of kilometers) scale across the George V Shelf between longitudes 1421E and 1461E. We conducted a multi-disciplinary analysis of seismic profiles, multibeam sonar, oceanographic data and the results of sediment sampling to define geomorphology, surficial sediment and near-seabed water mass boundaries.