Abstract
The Joint Chilean-German-Italian Magellan Victor Hensen Campaign in October/November 1994 and the Polarstern expedition ANT XIII/4 (May 1996) yielded 207 quantitative multibox corer samples from 11 stations in the Paso Ancho (Magellan Straits), 10 stations in the Beagle Channel, and 15 stations of the shelf and continental slope off the eastern entrance of the Beagle Channel. Mean abundance values in the Magellan Region varied from 1591 Ind. M -2 in the Paso Ancho to 3643 Ind. m -2 in the Beagle Channel and 3983 Ind. m -2 on the shelf; the corresponding biomass values were 96.8 g, 301.6 g, and 119.0 g wet weight m -2 respectively. In terms of org. C the corresponding values are 4.8, 11.4, and 4.6 g m -2 . Abundance (3806 Ind. m -2 ) and biomass (222.6 g wet weight m-2 or 7.3 g C) data from the eastern Weddell Sea shelf (Polarstern expeditions ANT VI/3, 1987/88 and ANT VII/4, 1989) are in the same range. The composition of the fauna, however, reveals distinct differences.
Highlights
The study area of the “Joint Victor Hensen Magellan Campaign” is one of the classic three Subantarctic regions with a strong “Antarctic component” (Hedgpeth, 1969)
Quantitative bottom samples were achieved during the “Joint Chilean-German-Italian Magellan “Victor Hensen” Campaign” in October/November 1994 and during the “Polarstern” expedition ANT XIII/4 in May 1995 by means of the multibox corer (Gerdes, 1990)
Eleven stations were situated in the Paso Ancho (Magellan Straits, 8 to 459 m water depth), 10 in the Beagle Channel (38 to 348 m water depth), and 15 stations on the shelf and continental slope off the eastern entrance of the Beagle Channel from 14 to 1162 m water depth (Fig. 1)
Summary
The study area of the “Joint Victor Hensen Magellan Campaign” is one of the classic three Subantarctic regions with a strong “Antarctic component” (Hedgpeth, 1969). The South American continent was the last to separate from the Antarctic continent, it is still closest to it, and exchange between both continents is supposed to have lasted longer and to have been more frequent than that between other fragments of Gondwana in the southern hemisphere. The fauna of the eastern Weddell Sea shelf as a high Antarctic environment is compared with our data from the Subantarctic Magellan region. This paper presents the first abundance and biomass data from the areas at the tip of South America. These data are compared with multibox corer samples from the eastern Weddell Sea shelf.
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