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10 m2, with an average value of 1.3 organisms per 10 m2.<br />

The abundance of organi sms at these depths and below a water<br />

mass of low productivity (southern Sargasso Sea) is very<br />

unusual (Rowe, 1971); expected animal densities are probably<br />

less than 0.2 organisms per 10 m2 (Rowe and Menzies, 1969).<br />

Significant benthic activity is also confirmed by the<br />

abundance of burrow mottling in the cores (Fig. 4.1). The<br />

va r i e ty and i n ten s i ty 0 f be nth i c act i v i ty s u g g est s t hat the<br />

high organic carbon in the sediment may create unusually<br />

rich feeding grounds for the organisms.<br />

Sediment cores from the Silver and Nares Abyssal Plains<br />

show the typical alternation of pelagic and turbidite<br />

sequences normally encountered beneath abyssal plains<br />

(Ericson and others, 1961). This is most strongly demon-<br />

strated in the grain-size distribution (Fig. 4.24 where silt<br />

may constitute 80% of the sediment in a turbidite sequence<br />

on the Nares Abyssal Plain. The quantity of organic carbon<br />

is similar to that on the Greater Antilles Outer Ridge.<br />

The Nares Abyssal Plain differs from other abyssal<br />

plains in the North Atlantic in that it is isolated from<br />

direct downslope sedimentation from continental margin<br />

SQurces; Vema Gap is the main tributary through which sedi-<br />

ment is funnel ed to thi s area. The i sol ation of the Nares<br />

Abyssal Plain probably results in deposition of thin, distal<br />

turbidite sequences on its surface. This is indicated by the<br />

virtual absence of sand-sized material (Fig. 4.2) and by the<br />

thick sequences of fine silt and lutite laminae (Fig. 4.5).<br />

76<br />

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