Search

Submarine canyons are key environments on the continental margin that are affected by unique and dynamic but often episodic and complex processes, and are difficult to study. Canyons are considered hotspots of biodiversity and enhancement of primary productivity at canyon heads has often been postulated to support this, although the evidence is sparse. Additionally canyons are considered to be fast-track corridors for material transported from the land to the deep sea and they are considered major pathways for the transportation and burial of organic carbon, acting as buffers for sediment and carbon storage. Organic geochemical and isotopic markers are often used as reliable indicators for the supply, quality and fate of organic matter in marine systems. In this study they have been used to test the above hypotheses in three contrasting submarine canyons (Nazaré, Setubal/Lisbon and Cascais) of the Portuguese Margin. The elemental and lipid biomarker composition of suspended particulate organic matter of surface waters close to the studied canyon heads had a fresh phytoplankton signal, however there was no clear evidence for enhanced primary productivity by comparison to the neighbouring open slope. By contrast, mid-depth waters (700-1600 m), that are dominated by the northward flowing Mediterranean Outflow Water, had high lipid content and abundant mesozooplankton biomarkers, perhaps reflecting zooplankton activity focused at the boundaries of distinct water masses. In the waters close to the floor of the Nazaré Canyon the presence of elemental sulphur (a product of sediment diagenesis) and high molecular weight hydrocarbons (recalcitrant, terrestrial markers) indicated high levels of resuspended material, particularly at the Upper section (