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Hadal trench bottom (>6000 m below sea level) sediments harbor higher microbial cell abundance compared with adjacent abyssal plain sediments. This is supported by the accumulation of sedimentary organic matter (OM), facilitated by trench topography. However, the distribution of benthic microbes in different trench systems has not been well explored yet. Here, we carried out small subunit ribosomal RNA gene tag sequencing for 92 sediment subsamples of seven abyssal and seven hadal sediment cores collected from three trench regions in the northwest Pacific Ocean: the Japan, Izu-Ogasawara, and Mariana Trenches. Tag-sequencing analyses showed specific distribution patterns of several phyla associated with oxygen and nitrate. The community structure was distinct between abyssal and hadal sediments, following geographic locations and factors represented by sediment depth. Co-occurrence network revealed six potential prokaryotic consortia that covaried across regions. Our results further support that the OM cycle is driven by hadal currents and/or rapid burial shapes microbial community structures at trench bottom sites, in addition to vertical deposition from the surface ocean. Our trans-trench analysis highlights intra- and inter-trench distributions of microbial assemblages and geochemistry in surface seafloor sediments, providing novel insights into ultradeep-sea microbial ecology, one of the last frontiers on our planet.

Tian, Y., Nashida, K., and Sakaji, H. 2013. Synchrony in the abundance trend of spear squid Loligo bleekeri in the Japan Sea and the Pacific Ocean with special reference to the latitudinal differences in response to the climate regime shift. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 968–979.Spear squid Loligo bleekeri is widely distributed in the Japanese coastal waters. The fisheries depend largely on four stocks: the southern and northern stocks both in the Japan Sea and the coastal regions of the Pacific. The catch per unit effort (cpue) for the northern stock in the Japan Sea decreased substantially during the 1980s but increased during the 1990s, while the abundance index for the southern stock showed the opposite trend. The cpue for the southern and northern stocks in the Pacific coast showed a similar pattern to that in the Japan Sea. The synchrony in the abundance trends between the Japan Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and latitudinal differences between the northern and southern stocks indicate the impact of the climate regime shift. Generalized additive model analysis identified significant effects of environmental factors. Increased water temperature had a positive effect on the northern stock but a negative effect on the southern stock in the Japan Sea and the Pacific, whereas El Niño–southern oscillation events and the Asian monsoon had additional significant effects on the Pacific stocks. These results suggest that the abundance trends of spear squid were largely forced by environmental factors with latitudinal differences in the response to the climate regime shift. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To clarify the regional distribution and characteristics of the sedimentary deposits in the northern part of the Philippine Sea, multichannel seismic reflection surveys of 26 864 km in total length were performed. The seismic reflection data were interpreted and correlated with available Deep Sea Drilling Project/Ocean Drilling Program (DSDP/ODP) data and a general stratigraphic framework of the area was established. The sedimentary deposits in this area were divided into five layers; Units I, II, III, IV and V in ascending order. Their approximate geological ages are the Early Eocene, Middle to Late Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene-Pleistocene, respectively. Seismic records were classified into three seismic facies, Facies A, B and C, on the basis of their characteristics. They were judged to represent pelagic and hemipelagic sediments of non-volcanic origin, fine pyroclastic sediments and coarse pyroclastic or volcanic sediments, respectively, by comparing them with lithological data in the DSDP/ODP holes. From the thickness and facies distributions of these sediments, a sedimentary history in the area was reconstructed as follows. The oldest sediments in the study area, Unit I, interfinger with some parts of the Daito Ridge (acoustic basement) in the Minami Daito Basin. The geological age of the unit is estimated by microfossils in the sediment and supports the idea that this part of the Daito Ridge is composed of the Early Eocene oceanic basalt. Later, a fair amount of sediments were deposited in the Minami Daito Basin in the Middle to Late Eocene age. A large volume of volcanic materials was supplied from the Paleo-Kyushu-Palau Ridge in the Kita Daito Basin in the Eocene and Oligocene ages. The eastern part of the Shikoku and Parece Vela basins is characterized by volcanic sediments supplied from the Nishi Shichito and West Mariana Ridges in the Miocene age. However, pelagic and hemipelagic sediments prevail in the northern part of the Shikoku Basin in the Miocene or later. In short, the area of principal sedimentation has generally shifted from west to east through geological time, reflecting the evolution of the island arc systems with the same trend in the northern Philippine Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]